A man started removing an illegal home extension, 13 years after he ordered it by the council and to follow a fine of £ 3,000 after a judge of the Kroonhof.
Mohammed Azhar, 57, is finally forced to take action after years of an enforcement message, several letters from and visits by planning officials and appear before the court of the magistrates.
The walls, the ceiling and the contents of the extension of a few floors to the back of his terrace house in Bradford, West Yorkshire, have been brought down but the stone base remains.
He built up the extension to an existing extension without permission in 2011 and the following year it was issued with an enforcement message from the council that ordered it to have been demolished.
The current planning dispute culminated in Azhar who appeared before Bradford Crown Court earlier this month.
He was fined £ 3,000 for non -compliance with the notification and warned that he will return to court if the demolition is not completed.
The court heard a retrospective application for the expansion was refused in 2013 because of the impact on neighbors.
Andrew Stranex, who continued on behalf of the Bradford Council, said: 'Over the years, contact with the suspect was made several times with the suspect, but there was no compliance.
The walls, the ceiling and the contents of the expansion of the single floors to the back of his terrace house in Bradford, West Yorkshire, have been brought down but the stone base remains
Last year Mr. Azhar (photo) was brought for magistrates and with a fine because he did not follow the enforcement message – but despite the promising of the illegal extension within two months, the building remained in place
“In 2022 the decision was made to prosecute – this was 10 years and eight months since the performance of the enforcement message.”
In February 2024 he appeared at the court of Bradford Magistrates, where he pleaded guilty for non -compliance with an enforcement message. He received a fine of £ 200. At that court he told the magistrates that he would have the expansion demolished within three months.
He did not succeed and appeared before Kirkleen -Magistrates last month, when the case was sent for conviction at Crown Court.
Azhar defended herself and said: 'I did my best to satisfy. I built the extension for my parents who were very sick and could not go up. '
Add: “I'm sorry I didn't take it down.”
Azhar told the court that he had no savings and received only £ 230 a month in benefits.
When he was pressed, he acknowledged that countless family members lived with him in the property and helped to pay bills, and so that £ 230 would be able to go to any fine that the court has imposed.
Stranex said: “The suspect was a builder and his son is a builder, so you have to think that they have knowledge of this kind of work.”
The right recorder Singh said to him: 'With your background as a builder you should have realized the seriousness of this.
'I am sure that you will satisfy and continue with the demolition, if you don't, you will have further prosecution.
When his retrospective planning application was rejected in 2012, the leaders of the Council demanded that the extension had to be demolished
Speaking with MailOnline, said Mr Azhar's son – who refused to give his name – that his father had mobility problems and had access to a toilet below
“It is regrettable that it took so long and took two judicial performances to start demolition.”
Azhar was not available for comment when MailOnline recently visited the house.
In February last year, two of the two of them said: “My neighbors don't mind, so what's the problem?”
He said that the extension cost £ 8,000 to build and would cost £ 4,000 to beat.
“There was a garage here and we made a toilet and shower room. It was to help my parents who had to live with us because of their health.
'They couldn't get up the stairs to use the toilet and I just wanted to take care of them.
'It is not as if I have built up a huge expansion to take advantage of, or to make money. It was just to help my family.
'I did not go to the council and beg them for help, I have just been working on it and have sorted it out myself.
“I just tried to do the right thing for my family.”
He added: 'If you look around here, there are extensions everywhere and people have no permission.
'It looks nice – it fits with the existing house. It's not like I used cheap bricks. I am proud of it because I did well.
'It's not too high and it doesn't go all the way to the border. I don't see what the problem is. '
