A COUPLE who spent £100,000 renovating their dream home have been ordered to pull it down.

Zippy Moonflower and his wife, Kerry Meadows, spent tens of thousands fixing up Mayflower Cottage, in Wix, last year. The building had stood derelict since it was abandoned in 1962.

Then Tendring Council told them because they had done the work without planning permission, they would have to rip it all down.

The couple appealed against the council’s enforcement notice to the Goverment’s Planning Inspectorate.

It has now sided with the council, leaving a last-minute change of heart by the council the couple’s only hope.

However, Mr Moonflower insists he will not pull down his home. He said: “If they tear that building down, we will be made homeless and it won’t be long before we are bankrupt, too, because we are still paying for the house. We can’t afford to go anywhere else.”

The 44-year-old has owned the cottage for ten years and was under the impression he didn’t need planning permission for the work.

He said: “I received a letter saying I had two months to begin work before the building regulations approval, applied for by a previous owner, ran out.

“The council watched me building it and took photos of it, but never once told me during that time I needed planning permission.”

The couple’s appeal was rejected because the planning inspector who considered the case said there was no evidence the cottage had been inhabited since 1962. The inspector did not accept the couple were simply restoring an old building.

Instead his report described the work as “full-scale reconstruction to modern building standards, of ruined cottages that had long been abandoned. What has resulted is a predominantly new building.”

If the council does go ahead with its enforcement notice then Mr Moonflower could also face a fine of £20,000.

The council’s planning committee has agreed to visit the cottage on September 8, before they make a final decision.

Harwich Labour councillor Dave McLeod, who is on the committee, said: “To my mind I would say there’s nothing wrong with that site.

“As a bus driver, I used to drive past it every day for years and it was an eyesore.”

Nigel Brown, the council’s communications manager, added: “The committee members decided they also wanted more information and a further report will be put before the committee in due course.”