A man in High Wycombe has been refused permission for his plan to build a sauna and a double garage.

Mr R Darch was told his proposals for Mulberry House, just off Hammersley Lane, would not be ‘permitted development’.

Plans for the applicant’s large outbuilding showed space for two cars, as well as a wood store, a toilet, a shower and a changing room, which would sit to the side of the main property.

These facilities would all be ‘incidental to the enjoyment of the occupiers of the dwellinghouse’, Mr Darch explained.

He also said the proposed garage and sauna and a previous extension to Mulberry House would together represent less than 50 per cent of the area of land around the original property.

This is a requirement for applicants like Mr Darch who are seeking a ‘certificate of lawfulness’ for the plans.

But planners at Buckinghamshire Council said they could not be sure about the 50 per cent claim due to the application site being shown as two separate houses in the council’s planning records.

In a decision notice they wrote: “The status of the single dwellinghouse of Mulberry House and the stables is not supported by any planning permission or certificate decision and thus does not appear to be lawful.”

Officers said it could therefore not be shown how much of the house’s land the proposed outbuilding would use. Mr Darch was advised to apply for planning permission.