A "shell-shocked" couple have been ordered to pull down the home they built for their family of five.

Mum Vicki Elder dashed out of a council meeting in tears after planners ordered the demolition.

Vicki and husband Gordon hoped to save the five-bed house at Fish Hill Farm, which they run as a smallholding in North Leigh, near Witney. But councillors voted 17 to three to demolish the house and detached garage and restore the site to grassland.

The couple, who have three young children - Thomas, eight, Ashley, five, and 18-month-old Cameron - battled with West Oxfordshire District Council over the size of the house. Planners started an investigation after receiving complaints. They found the house had five bedrooms and a double garage, built without permission.

A Ministry of Agriculture report concluded that a permanent home was not essential at Fish Hill Farm.

Planning officer Ian Morrow told councillors: "The recommendation to demolish a substantial dwelling house is unprecedented in west Oxfordshire. This is an important decision, involving matters of planning principle, which could affect the council as a whole. "The facts of the case have been considered by senior planning counsel, whose clear advice is that, legally, no planning permission exists."

But North Leigh district councillor Barry Norton said: "This is a local family facing financial ruin. They have been caught up in a bureaucratic nightmare."

After the meeting, the Elders were too distressed to comment but their planning consultant, Peter Uzzell, said they were considering an appeal.

Story date: Wednesday 28 April

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