A CHESHIRE businessman has lost a five-year battle to keep a £50,000 extension he built on the side of his house.

Ricky Hymes, from the hamlet of Wervin, near Chester, built the two-storey extension to his £250,000 house in his spare time.

But he did not have the correct planning permission and now a court has told him he has to pull at least half of it down or risk losing his house.

Chester City Council said they offered to let Mr Hymes knock down half the extension as a compromise solution when it transpired he had failed to follow planning procedure before starting building work.

The only alternative was to bulldoze the whole building.

But Mr Hymes, 42, said removing half the extension on his Victorian property would leave the former estate cottage looking "ridiculous" and cause its market value to plummet.

The married father-of-three, who runs his own plumbing business, carried out all the building work himself during evenings and weekends.

After the local authority offered the option of a reduced size extension, he said: "The council says this is a compromise but to me and my family it is a joke."

Mr Hymes claimed that, because the extension was built on land already used for several smaller outbuildings, he had not broken planning laws.

In September 2002, he and his wife, Julia, were given 14 days to demolish the extension after being convicted by Chester magistrates of failing to comply with a council enforcement notice.

The couple were granted a six-month reprieve after the council agreed to provide an architect to draw up plans to reduce the extension.

In 2003, the house was valued at around £300,000.

However, Mr Hymes and the council could not reach an agreement and, in the High Court on Wednesday, the homeowner said he would comply with the enforcement notice of September 4, 2000 within 12 months.

In the meantime, Mr Hymes can apply for planning permission for a reduced extension.

A council spokesman said: "This shows the determination of the city council, as a planning authority, to follow through on breaches of planning law even into the courts."