A man who wants to turn a former Victorian mansion into a 44-bedroom home for his huge family has had his plans thwarted by neighbours' objections.

Shipley Area Planning Panel yesterday rejected Mohammed Ayub's bid after officers told members there were "compelling reasons" why they should reject the plan to demolish a stable block and build a 24-bedroom three-storey annex on to the side of Aireville House in Aireville Drive, Frizinghall.

Mr Ayub even produced a family tree showing how his five married brothers, their children and their father wanted to live in the home, which already has 20 bedrooms.

"We are five married brothers all with children. This is how we choose to live and I make no apologies for it," he said.

He said his extended family had been living together in a terraced house in Bradford since 1964 and they now wanted to move out of cramped living conditions and move into a more spacious home where their family could continue to grow.

But the panel heard how neighbours feared the annexe would look more like a hotel than a house and would invade their privacy, block out light from their homes and spoil the look of the area.

They also shared planning officers' concerns that protected trees on the site could be damaged and that more people living in the house could cause extra traffic congestion.

Catherine Jarmola, one of the neighbours who objected, broke down in tears at the meeting when planners announced their decision.

Earlier she told them how her life had already been made a misery since Mr Ayub was granted permission last year to build a three-storey extension on to the back of the property.

Mrs Jarmola said: "It's like looking up at the Berlin Wall. No light comes in to my home."