A miniature millennium dome in Rayleigh might have to be pulled down if it does not get planning permission.

Council bosses are due to visit the dome, in the car park of the Hungry Horse pub in Downhall Road, to determine whether it requires planning consent.

It has been put up by the manager and pub regulars to raise money for charity, and manager Colin Benham plans to illuminate it with red lights for Comic Relief.

But now Mr Benham claims he might have to pull his construction down rather than pay for a planning application which might not be granted.

He said: "The choice is open to me to either take it down or apply for planning permission.

"To apply for planning permission I have no guarantee of getting, it is going to cost me £570, so I have the problem of whether I go down that path or not."

Mr Benham's dome has already achieved national fame after it was featured in national newspapers and on the Big Breakfast.

Mr Benham added: "The options open to me are that I could go for planning permission and then they could order me to take it down while they consider it.

Mr Benham added: "Had I built it in my back garden there would not have been a problem, but because it is business premises I have to have planning permission."

Rochford District Council's director of planning, John Whitlock, said the council had not yet decided if the dome needed planning permission.

He said: "We take the view it requires planning permission, given the type of structure it is, if he is going to keep it for any length of time.

"But we will consider it on its merits."

Mr Whitlock said the dome had already been cleared by the highway authority of blocking any lines of visibility.

Lord Dome - publican Colin Benham must wait and see if the dome must be pulled down

Picture: NICK ANSELL

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