A COUPLE who added a dormer extension to their home without planning permission have been hit with a triple whammy.

Having paid for it to be built they now have to pay for it to be taken down and have also been hit with a financial penalty for not removing it quickly enough.

Safwan Ahmed, 41, and his wife Hamida Ahmed, of Harwood Gate, Blackburn, pleaded guilty at Blackburn magistrates to breaching an enforcement notice. They were fined a total of £350 with £222 costs and £68 victim surcharge.

The court heard after the dormer extension had been built the couple applied for retrospective planning permission which was refused.

An appeal against the decision was dismissed and an enforcement order made requiring the extension to be removed withing six months.

The notice had not been complied with and was still there on the day of the court appearance.

Safwan Ahmed said he and his wife had applied for planning permission to build a kitchen extension and had been told by the architect they did not need permission for the dormer.

"It was only after we had built it that we received notification from the council," he said. "I asked out builders to take it down as soon as possible and asked the council for an extension."

He said there were issues getting a builder to take it down but had now received a letter from the builder to say he could do the job in October.