A kindergarten due to open soon could be shut down by council officials following a neighbour dispute.

Katie's Kindergarten, off Moorside, Cleckheaton, is due to open in under three weeks. But arguments over an unmade private access road leading to the nursery could mean improvements demanded by Kirklees Council will not be ready in time.

Engineering works owner Austin Mercer, who owns half the access road, alleges Ms Holmes claimed she owned the entire 100-metre access when she applied to build the kindergarten last year - to avoid formally notifying him of her plans.

Builders of two homes off the private road are due to resurface the single-track lane and improve access into Moorside - but it will not be ready for three months. And Mr Mercer will not let Ms Holmes resurface his section of road so she can comply with planning regulations. He said: "If I'd been notified I'd have told Kirklees the road isn't wide enough for lots of cars but the first I knew about it was after the plans were passed.

"Getting out into Moorside can be dangerous when it's busy and I sometimes have lorries loading, which will block the road off. I'll probably look like the bad guy in all this but there's no point in me saying 'I told you so' when there's an accident or an ambulance can't get through."

Planners say if the nursery opens as planned and a complaint is received, enforcement officers could be sent in.

But Ms Holmes, who denied falsifying her planning application by claiming to own the whole of the lane, pledged to open her kindergarten to 45 children regardless. She said: "If he's got his mind set on complaining then I'll just have to see what happens. He's never spoken to me about this."

Kirklees Council planning officer Andrew Keeling said it was the applicant's responsibility to notify land owners affected by the plans - but no notices had been served.

And he said a map had been received with a red line around the access road, claiming it belonged to Ms Holmes.

He said: "If she opens without the road being completed and we receive a complaint we will investigate.

"Whether enforcement action is taken depends on how strongly we feel. We do have the power to shut places down.''

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