TWO heartbroken children have been told their play house must be pulled down after council officials decided it was against planning rules.

For the last three years Ian Barker has watched his son Jack, six, and daughter Isobell, three, have fun in the small play area in a field he owns at the back of his garden in Whittam Crescent, Whalley.

But their enjoyment will be brought to an end if planning officials from Ribble Valley Council have their way.

Mr Barker was told he should have applied for planning permission before building the playground, which has a slide, swings, a see-saw, tree house, a zip-wire and wendy house.

And although he has made a retrospective application, at a cost of £265, it has been recommended for refusal at next week's planning meeting. Officerss have said the land is designated for agriculture and cannot be used for any other purpose.

Mr Barker said: "My two kids love it. I can't emphasise how devastating this will be for them. There's nowhere they'd rather be.

"They have so much fun there and we're not harming anyone. My little girl and boy love to play there and it's been there for as long as they can remember. To take it away from them now would cause all kinds of upset.

"I built the things myself for the kids to play on because it's a safe environment for them and there's not much else for them to do in the area.

"It's been there for three years. I applied to put an extension on my house and it was then that the council noticed the play area and told me I needed permission."

Mr Barker said the play area was not only popular with his children but also their friends and youngsters from neighbouring houses.

And he revealed he has already gathered 27 signatures on a petition to save it.

Mr Barker bought his house six years ago and has since bought the land around it for almost £15,000.

He said: "It beggars belief, it really does. Alright, they've got rules and regulations they have to work to but to be so bureaucratic and down right against everybody's opinion is unbelievable."

Ribble Valley Council's building and development control manager John Macholc said: "This development clearly breaches planning policy regarding garden extensions in open countryside.

"I appreciate that the piece of land in question has been fenced off since its purchase and can understand the enjoyment the applicant's family gain from it, but it is clearly associated with the fields at the back of the property and therefore represents an encroachment on open countryside."

Whalley councillor Joyce Holgate, a member of the planning committee, said: "Mr Barker has been to see me and I've offered him all the help and advice I can."