Builders place lamppost through new-build house’s roof without permission

03 February 2024 , 21:11

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The lamppost goes through the roof of the newbuild property (Image: GARY CARTER)

Bungling builders stuck a lamppost through the roof of a new-build house - leaving local residents furious.

The street furniture skewers the roof of the property in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, when it was supposed to stand adjacent to the home. Drawings for the developers had pictured the lamppost close to the four-bedroom property - but not through it, as photographs taken this week show. Council bosses, though, have pulled the construction team up on the error and the light will now be taken out.

People passing the development, which is not yet completed, were left stunned as they saw the lamppost enter and come out of the eaves of the house. Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, a Labour stronghold, has contacted the developers. Having the lamppost in the end of the row was never mentioned in papers when planning permission was granted in February 2020. In fact, the decision was made based on the proposed plans that showed it standing next to the property, not in the roofline.

As it became clear the two-bedroomed properties would be marketed with one forming part of the row of four, Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council stepped in. Now the firm has agreed to take out the unique design aspect and move it. A spokesman for the authority said: “We have spoken to the developer and they have agreed to remove the lamppost and replace it nearer a neighbouring boundary wall.”

Builders in Greater Manchester will have to correct the blunder (GARY CARTER)

It comes after a man who built a large house on his driveway without permission from his council knocked it down after a planning row. Mr M Singh was given approval to build a single-storey garage beside his house in Highgate, Birmingham, in 2019, but during a visit in 2022 found a "substantially larger" dwelling had been built on the site.

Life on one of the UK's cheapest streets where homes sell for just £25,000

Mr Singh was supposed to make a garage 5.3m by 4.6m, but the building built was 8.7m by 4.7m and taller than it was supposed to, The family fought to keep it but eventually had to tear it down. One neighbour said: "It looks like they have finally complied with the order and thank goodness because it was an eyesore. I was amazed they got away with it, so it's nice to see that common sense has now prevailed."

Bradley Jolly