Bone haemangiomas are extremely rare in the ribs with a handful of cases reported in the literature. A case of a rib haemangioma is presented in which the diagnosis pre-resection was an aggressive chest wall tumour. The plain film, CT, MRI and nuclear medicine bone scan features of the lesion were reviewed with the pathological correlation. On imaging, the lesion was expansile, lytic and had fine bony trabeculae. The lesion also demonstrated growth beyond a disrupted bony cortex, suggesting malignancy. This case report adds to the literature on this rare condition and discusses the issues in the diagnosis of chest wall tumours.