£500,000 house may be pulled down

A whistle blower tipped off planners about the property

A newly-built Wiltshire house worth £500,000 could be demolished after planners decided it was built 20 inches (50cm) out of position.

The error was discovered after a whistle blower tipped off planners about the four-bedroom property, which is almost finished, near Devizes.

Kennet District Council found the house had been built "too close to a byway" and was "oppressive and harmful".

Danish Homes UK put in a new planning application but this was also rejected.

Councillor Philip Brown said Kennet District Council would be taking enforcement proceedings.

'Wrong place'

"We could put a full enforcement order on them to pull the whole house down. We could order them to demolish it, or we could tell them to take it back to the original footprint of the house," he said.

"They must have known the house was built in the wrong place. The house must be built as in the original application." he added.

Keith Bennett of agents Bennett Architectural Designs said: "I do not know how the mistake happened. They could order us to demolish it, in theory they could."

He said even if the council just agreed it could pull the house back by the required distance of half a metre it would be forced to take a huge chunk off a bedroom and the lounge.

"That would cost us up to £30,000 and it would knock thousands of pounds off the value of the house.

"The council came out and measured it. We say it is a third of a metre [13ins] out and they said half a metre [20ins]."

Mr Bennett is to appeal to the Secretary of State for Communities and Amenities Hazel Blears in a bid to keep the house as it is.