A COUPLE who spent thousands of pounds building an extension have been told they may have to pull it down.

Planning consent was given to Norman and Miriam Younger, but as the two-storey building went up neighbours in Hereford Drive, Prestwich, started to get suspicious.

They claim the nearly-completed building bears no resemblance to the original plan, and councillors are backing them.

Now they have ordered the couple to make significant changes to match the rear extension to the plan the planning committee agreed to in July 2001. If those modifications can't be achieved Mr and Mrs Younger face the prospect of having to have the extension demolished.

However, they are determined to fight the decision. Although reluctant to discuss details, Mrs Younger said that they had engaged "a legal team".

Leading the opposition to the Youngers' building plans is next-door neighbour Mrs Catherine Bogan (44).

She said this week: "I hope they pull it down. It is the most awful thing I have ever seen.

"Something has to be done about it. The planners are insisting on significant changes but I am not confident that they will enforce them. After this decision I will be watching the situation closely to make sure they do."

Neighbours opposed the development on a number of grounds. They felt the Youngers' original description of it was incorrect as the development became "more of a small house than an extension". They also believe that the council ignored it own criteria in determining the planning application.

The Youngers say that the extension occupies much of the space where a garage stood and is of a similar height. They also claim there is no intrusion of anyone's privacy and that the extension has been "professionally designed".

Following a site visit last month planning councillors threw out a retrospective application from the Youngers, which addressed the changes already made.

A spokesman for the planning department said: "The applicants will have to modify the design."