It may be a normal 6ft wisteria-clad garden trellis - but a retired lorry driver from Kent has been ordered to take it down by his local council.

Derek Hatton, 69, has the structure at the front of his home in Abbeyfields, Faversham.

But now Swale Borough Council has told him he needs planning consent for a trellis above one metre tall and must take it down.

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He said: "Surely the council has got better things to do. I've had it for two-and-a-half years."

The borough council says it is only following existing legislation.

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