A home owner is refusing to pull down his DIY porch after Bradford Council turned down his planning application.

Chronic asthmatic Phillip Glennon spent £1,000 to build the artificial stone and wood porch at his terraced Eccleshill home more than a year ago and claims he did not apply for consent because he was told by the Council he did not need it.

Now he could face an enforcement order from the planning department telling him to demolish it and remove the rubble.

But Mr Glennon, 56, of Craven Terrace, who is not working and receives incapacity benefit, said: "I won't pull it down because I can't afford to. The demolition would cost money and I would have to get someone in because I had to plaster part of the front of the house.

"The Council said it is incongruous but people have told me it's nice and I like it.

"I asked the Council about planning permission and was told I didn't need it because it was smaller than the size where consent was necessary. It isn't my fault I was given the wrong information."

Mr Glennon said he was an experienced builder and had never had problems with planning before. He said: "I've spent money which I could have had for the hearing aid and glasses I need.

"I decided to build it because of my health and because of the fact that the house was cold because there was nothing to stop the draught coming in."

Mr Glennon received a letter from the Council's planning department in June, a year after he built the porch, saying it needed planning permission because it was close to a public highway and more than three metres square.

"I pointed out that the porch was next to the part of a private unmade road which I own. This isn't a public highway," he said.

Now Mr Glennon has been notified that his application has been refused because the material used was unsuitable and it is "incongruous and unsympathetic" with the rest of the street.

A Council spokesman said checks had found the porch was less than the permitted two metres from the public highway.

"As a result we wrote to Mr Glennon on June 27 and subsequently received a retrospective planning application on July 3.

"As the porch measures over three metres square and is within two metres from the highway the development would have needed planning permission."

He added that the application was also turned down because the porch spoiled the appearance of the street and Mr Glennon's home.

The spokesman said the Council had no record of Mr Glennon going to the planning department to discuss his plans. He advised applicants to submit written details of proposed developments.

He said the planning department was now looking at the case to decide whether enforcement action should be taken.

Planning legislation gives councils the power to demolish buildings and charge the cost to the owner if enforcement orders are ignored.