A landowner who has been ordered to clear fly-tipping from an eyesore site today said his efforts to clean up the land are being thwarted by residents and council planners.

Gordon Wilcox was given 21 days to clear rubbish from land off Rook Lane, near Dudley Hill, Bradford, after residents complained that it was becoming a health hazard.

Householders say the garages at the back of their homes attract fly-tipping and youths who are vandalising the site.

But Mr Wilcox, of Bailiff Bridge, says he wants to clean up the area by using it for housing but is being foiled because of objections from residents.

He said: "I want to use the land for a row of starter homes, for single people and young married couples to rent but the planning officers say they think the site is suitable for one or two homes.

"But who is going to want to buy a five-bedroom detached house at the back of these houses? Nobody - the site is ideal for affordable homes.

"When I submitted an application the residents objected to it."

Mr Wilcox put in an outline planning application for six homes on the site last July.

The outline application asks Bradford Council to approve the use of land for housing but a detailed application is still needed before any development can take place. However Mr Wilcox's outline bid was rejected by planners. Now he is working on a detailed planning application for a housing development and he is vowing to appeal if the Council refuses him again.

A Bradford Council spokesman said Mr Wilcox's original application was turned down because it would have harmed privacy of the existing homes in Rook Lane. There was also a problem with accessing the site from an unadopted road and the application was incomplete.

Mr Wilcox has now cleared the site after the Council issued an enforcement notice ordering his wife Cheryl, who is the landowner, to clean up the rubbish with 21 days.

Rook Lane resident Amanda Lee said: "The whole street opposed the planning application last time and I would do again. It is too close to our homes and cars would be coming down the back where our kids like to play."

She complained she no longer let her five-year-old son, Lewis, go out of the back of the house because the garages were attracting dumped rubbish and vandals.