It is feared the rubble could be used to cause further trouble in the area after locals blamed the attack on a long-running neighbourhood feud which escalated after the murder of Ballymurphy man Gerard Devlin last year.

The house at Whitecliff Parade, in the heart of Ballymurphy, is understood to belong to Edith Notorantonio, whose family has been caught up in the feud with the Devlin family.

However, the Devlin family today publicly denied any involvement in the attack.

Gerard Devlin's aunt Bernadette O'Rawe said: "The Devlin family had absolutely nothing to do with this. This has been carried out by someone who has a personal grudge against the Notorantonio's.

"I think this was a paramilitary-type operation carried out with paramilitary precision. There is no way the children could have done this. It is very frightening that our family is being implicated in this."

The police said that the digger was stolen from premises at the Whiterock Road area. It was ploughed through the house just after 6.30am.

It is understood nobody had been living in the property, which had been burnt out on several occasions.

Apparently it had been torched before the digger was driven through it this morning.

Rose Notorantonio (50), who lives next door, told the Belfast Telegraph she was terrified when she heard all the commotion.

"Me and my daughter were sleeping in the living room when we heard unmerciful banging. My whole house shook and I thought it was going to come down around us," she added.

Another member of the Notorantonio family, who did not want to be named, said the now destroyed house had been continually attacked since it was vacated three years ago.

Belfast City Council building control were at the scene throughout the day.

Council workers said that the house posed a major health and safety risk and would therefore have to be completely demolished and the site cleared immediately.

One resident said: "There are a lot of bricks and rubble lying around and everyone's nervous that they could be used to cause trouble tonight after all this today."

There has been major unrest in the Ballymurphy area since the murder of Mr Devlin (39).

His death sparked unrest in the estate as friends and relatives on both sides of a feud between the Devlin and Notorantonio families came under attack.