A doctor may have to pull down a security fence which was put up to stop vandals wrecking his surgery.

The 6ft-high fencing was put up around the Birch Lane Medical Centre at West Bowling a year ago and has kept the hooligans at bay.

But Bradford Council planners have refused to grant retrospective planning permission because they say the fence has a detrimental effect on the look of the residential area the surgery is in.

Dr Mohammed Ansari is now appealing against the decision but, if he loses, the fence will have to come down and the GP may be forced to quit.

Dr Ansari, 62, said that before the fence was put up, the medical centre - on the corner of Birch Lane and New Cross Street - had been under siege with out-of-control teenagers targeting the surgery almost daily.

"They were taking tiles from the roof, damaging drainpipes and breaking windows with stones," said Dr Ansari.

"It was happening during the day as well as at night and they even threw stones at a receptionist.

"It was a real nuisance and frightening for both the staff and the patients. I would never inspect the building at night because I was too scared."

But Dr Ansari said the problems was cured when the grey metal fence was put up at a cost of £8,000.

He said: "Since the fence went up, no-one has been able to get in and we can sleep easy."

Dr Ansari said the vandalism had got so bad that he had felt like packing in his job at the surgery, which serves 3,000 patients. And he feared that if the fence had to come down, things would get even worse.

"The only reason the fence went up was to keep out the vandals. We didn't realise planning permission was needed.

"But if the appeal is refused, there would be no choice but to pull it down. I fear they would get in and steal the computers with all the patients' records. Where would my patients go if we had to close?"

Planners say the fence is an industrial-style palissade erection which has been left an unpainted grey metal and is visually unacceptable in a residential area.

But Dr Ansari says he is prepared to paint it black and change the style to what would be acceptable.

He added: "I don't think it looks ugly or out of place, but I would be happy to go along with what they want. I feel they are concentrating on the visual side rather than the practical problems we are facing.

"If the fence has to come down, the vandals will win. I just think it's very sad they feel the need to target a medical centre where we are trying to help people."

Practice manager Fatima Akbar, 59, said that security shutters and grilles had failed to stop the vandals but the fence had worked.

"If the staff and patients are safer, I can't see what the problem is," she said.

"There hasn't been a bad word about the fence from either the patients or the neighbours. I can't understand why permission has been refused."

A Bradford Council planning spokesman said: "We understand the concerns of staff at the medical centre and are happy to advise them on what type of security measures and fencing would best suit their needs.

"The fence around the centre is a type found mainly on industrial sites and should not have been put up in a residential area. It is more than two metres high and made of bare metal with spikes across the top.

"Planning permission should have been sought before it was constructed.

"We are now waiting to hear the result of the appeal against our decision. Pictured at the fence are, front, practice manager Fatima Akbar and senior receptionist June Midgley.