A residents association has won a long battle over Bradford Council's handling of a planning application.

The authority's planning department was criticised by the local government watchdog for the way it dealt with the case of a former electricity sub-station in Heaton which has been subject to a number of planning bids.

In 1998 plans to turn the building, set in a conservation area on Wilmer Road, into a youth club attracted a storm of objections from local residents.

Later approval was granted for a two-storey home on the site and drew no objectors but The Heaton Township Association contacted the ombudsman after a lone planning officer agreed in "secret" to plans for another storey - adding five metres overall to the height of the building.

The Ombudsman today criticised the authority's planning department saying it was at fault for dealing with and approving amended plans as minor amendments when it should have been decided by a planning committee.

But no injustice resulted from the Council's actions as there was no "specific adverse impact" on nearby residents, it said.

Chairman of the residents association, Andrew Pitts, hit out at the Council's handling of the application, which has seen a small home become a "mansion".

He said: "We are very pleased that our complaint has been upheld by the Ombudsman. A single planning officer was able to make a decision that involved a 60 per cent increase in height. To most lay people that is in no way a minor amendment. Either it is pure incompetence or there are some systemic failures.

"That person has landed the local community with something we are not happy about and we never had the chance to have a debate. It's appalling that the decision of one council officer can leave local people with a monstrous carbuncle on its doorstep.

"The Council should hold its head in shame and we think we are owed a public apology."

The Ombudsman Anne Seex reported that although the planning officer may have "acted with good intentions" he "exceeded his authority".

"Increasing the height of a domestic dwelling by five metres and one storey is not a minor amendment," she said.

The officer should have asked for a planning application to be submitted, giving neighbours the opportunity to object.

A spokesman for the Council said it had not contested the charges and would therefore not comment on the outcome.

The report will be available for inspection at City Hall, Jacob's Well and Keighley Town Hall from Thursday for three weeks.

e-mail: jo.winrow@bradford.newsquest.co.uk