MOTORBIKE ace Carl Fogarty has been rapped for vandalising the countryside after chopping down an ancient hedge without permission.

The four-times World Superbike champion removed the four-metre section of hedge so a local farmer could get in to cut the grass at his home in Mellor.

Foggy only applied to Ribble Valley Borough Council for planning permission after doing the work but has now been told by planning bosses to restore the site to its previous appearance.

Nearby residents complained the new access was unnecessary and had disturbed an established hedge containing insects and birds.

And county surveyor Brian Cooper said poor visibility and the position of the access could cause accidents.

Fogarty retired from racing two years ago and is due to launch his own team, Foggy FP1 Petronas, on the world superbike circuit.

It is the third time that the sports star has clashed with the authorities over planning regulations.

He lashed out at Tockholes Parish Council "fuddy duddies," when they tried to block his plans to build a gym above a garage at his former home in the village, but was eventually given the thumbs-up by Blackburn with Darwen Council.

In a second row, he was forced to submit retrospective planning permission for a tennis court, stables and garage he had erected at the site without permission.

He said today he would not be appealing against the latest council decision.

He added: "It's not something I'm too worried about, although there does seem to have been a bit of a lack of common sense.

"I only put the gate there to make it easier for the farmer who cuts the grass for me to get into the field three times a year.

"There was no hedge there, anyway.

"It was just a bit of a sheep fence and that's why I put a gate at that spot in the first place," he said.

Countryside pressure group the Council for the Protection of Rural England today described hedgerow removal as rural vandalism.

CPRE Lancashire officer Peter Mallon said: "Ancient hedgerows must be preserved for future generations.

"Over the last 60 years, England has lost over half its hedgerows, some of them representing a 1,000 years of history.

"Many forms of wildlife will die when a hedge is grubbed out and destroying hedgerows is the worst form of rural vandalism, because they can't be replaced.

"While not wishing to comment on this particular case, there are laws to protect hedgerows and ways in which we can tell their age, if people will only call us for advice."

Council leader Chris Holtom said councillors had voted overwhelmingly against retrospective planning permission after officers recommended refusal on highway grounds.

"This is not a happy situation and I have some sympathy with Mr Fogarty, as I believe this was an oversight on his part, but our planning officers are only a phone call away and the overwhelming opinion among councillors was that the access be removed and the hedge reinstated," he said.