A RETIRED couple fear “disaster” after they were ordered to take down their six foot privacy fence.

Ronald and Jennifer Anderson have been told to remove the £1,500 fence three years after it replaced a 20ft-high hedge outside their home in Pencaitland, near Edinburgh.

The pair were instructed to apply for planning permission by East Lothian council, who then rejected their bid to keep it up.

Now they fear their beloved pet dog Barclay could be in added danger of being stolen and lost after a decision they said “beggared belief”.

The couple originally had a 20ft-tall hedge at the side of their village home 12 miles south-east of the Scottish capital.

They took it down because it was blocking a neighbour's sunlight.

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They spent £1,500 on erecting a fence instead – aimed at keeping their dog safe from intruders – but, three years on, planning officials have now ruled it unacceptable.

Mr and Mrs Anderson are now appealing the ruling to the council's Local Review Body, insisting they have planted climbers in front of the fence to cover it.

They also complained about a planning officer they say turned up at the home to take photos when Mrs Anderson was there alone – claiming he behaved like a house-breaker or dog thief.

Mr Anderson told EdinburghLive the "ridiculous" decision to refuse planning permission was "frustrating".

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He said: "The fence was put up in 2020 and cost around £1,500 but it replaced a 20ft-high hedge which blocked my neighbour's sunlight.

"The main part of our garden is to the side of the house and we need a secure boundary for our dog Barclay so he can enjoy the outside safely.

"The whole thing has been ridiculous and frustrating. The hedge was allowed under planning policy but the replacement fence is not? It beggars belief."

Mr Anderson has also said in his appeal to the review body a young council worker arrived unannounced, in a baseball cap and with no ID and leant over the garden wall taking pictures.

He wrote: "It was pointed out to him that this is also a means used by people to steal dogs and break into houses.

"By putting my wife in a state of fear and alarm this constitutes a breach of the peace."

East Lothian council planners ruled the fence was "not appropriate for its setting" and "out of character" with the "largely low front roadside boundary enclosures".

It also risked setting a "dangerous precedent" for other front gardens in the area, they added.

The Andersons' appeal is due to be heard on July 20.

East Lothian council declined to comment when approached by Sun Online.

Privacy fences have led to rows not only between residents and local authorities but also between neighbours.

A doctor in Tooting in south London has been in a court battle in which she has been accused of tearing down a privacy fence.

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A group of residents in St Albans in Hertfordshire have complained about a neighbour they say has built not one but two privacy fences.

But DIY whizzes have also offered tips on how to build cut-price privacy fences of your own, including a £105 version shown off on TikTok, another screening off a swimming pool and one in Bedfordshire transformed using bargain Wilko products.

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