Couple fined for using fake garage door to hide illegal home
Reeta Herzallah and Hamdi Almasri defied planning regulations by disguising small house
A couple from Leicestershire have been fined after using a fake garage door and high fence to hide a residential property from a council.
Reeta Herzallah and Hamdi Almasri had “flouted regulations by turning their redbrick garage into additional living space and concealing it behind fences and a fake garage door”, says The Times.
The breach of planning regulations was spotted in October 2015, Blaby District Council said. The couple put in a retrospective planning application in July 2016, but it was rejected and dismissed on appeal in February last year.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Planning permission “was granted for a development in 2007 which included conditions stating that car parking facilities, including the garage, should remain available permanently”, reports The Independent.
Appearing at Leicester Magistrates’ Court, Herzallah and Almasri, from Enderby, were each ordered to pay a £770 fine, legal costs of £1,252, and a £77 victim surcharge.
The garage “will be restored to its former use”, says The Guardian.
Blaby district councillor Sheila Scott said: “The message from this case is clear. If you breach planning regulations and ignore us, we will not just go away.
“We will be following up the successful prosecution with a further visit to ensure that all the requirements of the breach of condition notice are fully complied with.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Who are Syria's resurgent rebels?
The Explainer Surprise Aleppo offensive, led by controversial faction, has blindsided Bashar al-Assad and his allies
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Magical festive light trails around the UK
The Week Recommends These twinkling displays have pulled out all the stops to get you in the mood for Christmas
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Donald Trump has said 'the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff'
Today's Big Question Donald Trump's threat to impose crippling tariffs 'part of a broader turn towards protectionism in the West'
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published