A farmer who secretly built a castle behind giant hay bales before a High Court ruling forced him to tear it down has applied for planning permission to build two new homes.
Robert Fidler had been embroiled in a decade-long battle with the borough council over his decision to build a mock-Tudor castle behind a row of giant hay bales on his land in Surrey.
He wrongly presumed that if the building remained standing without complaint for long enough, the council would be powerless to intervene – despite having been built without planning permission.
But the case reached the High Court this earlier this year, with the judge ruling in Reigate and Banstead Borough Council’s favour and forcing Mr Fidler to tear down his cherished home.
VIDEO: Farmer who illegally built manson trying to get permission to build two homes