A PENSIONER who flouted planning laws by putting a static caravan in his garden for his son has been told to remove it.

Retired agricultural chemist Tony Mabett inherited a cottage and half an acre in Meadow Lane, Burton, from his late mother in 2008.

When his son Tim, 34, returned home last summer conditions were so cramped Tony decided to clear land, spending nearly £22,000 on laying a base, providing electric and water supplies and buying a static home.

Tony said: “It is what Tim’s grandmother would have wished for and I wanted to help him and his girlfriend Sue Street.

“When we went to see a Christchurch council planning officer on September 12 we were told that she couldn’t see any reason why we could not go ahead with our plans as long as the caravan was used by the family, not rented or made out of brick.

“There was no mention of planning permission or restrictions.”

The caravan arrived on October 30.

Sales assistant Tim said: “Everything was connected, except for the electric meter and gas bottles. It was virtually ready to move into.”

However, the next morning a council officer arrived to say an enforcement notice was going to be issued because the structure did not have planning permission.

Tim said: “We were gutted because we had been wrongly informed. It is heartbreaking.”

The family has applied for retrospective permission but their application has been refused and the council has given them until April 16 to remove the caravan.

Tony, 68, said: “It’s a great shame as I was only doing what any father would do for their children.”

Cllr Judy Jamieson, who chairs Burton Parish Council, said the parish’s planning committee had been consulted by Christchurch council and had objected.

She said Mr Mabett had installed a large mobile home and it was inappropriate on the edge of Burton’s conservation area.

“It came up as a retrospective planning application which he was told he had to put in,” she said.

“The parish council is a consultee. We were very surprised that anyone had done it.

“The committee objected because of over-development and inappropriateness.”

Giles Moir, development control manager at Christchurch and East Dorset councils, said: “Mr Mabett asked us if he needed planning permission for a caravan and he was told he didn’t.

“However, he has now placed a mobile home with its own water and electricity supply on his land and it is being used as a separate property.

“This is different from a caravan and does need planning permission.

“Retrospective planning permission has not been granted and enforcement action is proceeding.”