A Beaconsfield timber yard’s fight to keep a bungalow that was built for the manager to live in has angered neighbours – including celebrity resident Vernon Kay.

Timberstore Ltd built a two-bedroom bungalow for the yard manager and his family to live in back in 2014 but it never had planning permission.

The fencing company applied for a ‘certificate of lawfulness’ in 2020 to finally make the bungalow ‘legal’ – but with neighbours on the exclusive country lane unhappy with the plans, Buckinghamshire Council rejected them.

Timberstore is now appealing the decision with the Planning Inspectorate.

When the plans were submitted last year, TV presenter Vernon, 47, urged that the council reject them because the bungalow has been built on the Green Belt, adding that residents have been complaining about development on the site for at least four years.

He wrote: “We understand this is a retrospective planning application but since the council were not able to pursue the complaints from residents four years ago, this application should be refused.”

Other neighbours on the lane have also objected, with Martin Gardener describing the building as an “unnecessary intrusion into the local countryside” and Manjit Bhambra writing: “As residents we have complained about use of this plot for the last few years.”

In publicly available documents, Ian Caldwell, director of Timberstore Ltd, said he bought the land from Lord Burnham because there were “constant issues” with fly-tipping and trespass.

He added that a number of employees live in mobile homes provided by the yard which are suitable for single people or couples, but aren’t very attractive for families.

He says he built the £80,000 bungalow on adjoining land for the manager of the site and his family to live in because they were unhappy in a mobile home.

Work started on the bungalow back in September 2013, with the manager moving in in May 2014.

Despite their recent bid to make the bungalow legal, Buckinghamshire Council refused the plans in January this year.

They also issued an enforcement notice in February, saying the agricultural site had been changed to residential use without permission.

Timberstore Ltd is appealing against the enforcement notice and the rejection of their plans and a public inquiry is set to be launched by the Planning Inspectorate.