A neighbourhood row has broken out after a couple were ordered to halve the height of their garden fence by the local council.
Susan Paul, 53, and her partner Andrew Doyle, 58, from England, have been given until mid-March to cut the height of the two metre fence down by 50%.
Wiltshire Council has issued an enforcement notice, which could see them face legal proceedings if they disobey the order.
But the couple, who have both worked in the RAF, claim they are being unfairly victimised because 'nothing has happened’ to the owners of several other fences in the street, which they say are exactly the same height.
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The council, said to have been alerted by a whistle-blower, issued the order 21 months after the fence was erected by the couple.
The pair put up the fence in January 2020 outside their home in Amesbury and it cost them €11,000.
The fence is made of close-boarded wood, and stands about two metres (six and a half feet) tall. It stretches for 164ft (50 metres) along both sides of their boundary facing the road, on the street corner.
Susan said: "It replaced an overgrown hedge which was leaning over a path, stopping wheelchairs and mums with prams using it.
"It’s such an injustice, we were just really surprised.
"Other people have exactly the same type of fence as we’ve got, so why are we being punished?
"We are being unfairly penalised, it’s madness.
"And we are worried about being able to afford the work in this age of austerity."
Aircraft engineer Andrew demanded to be told by the council why no enforcement action had been taken against other householders with similar fences.
He said: "We replaced the hedge with the fence, unaware of the need for planning permission until we suddenly had a letter out of the blue from Wiltshire Council who came after us.
"Now we have to cut it down by a half – we have to cut it down to one metre high.
"But several fences in the road are exactly the same height, but nothing has happened about them.
"It’s the loss of the privacy that I’m worried about. It’s crazy because I could put a hedge back in and let it get as big as I like.
"The old hedge was 8ft high and 6ft wide and filthy because people used to throw rubbish in it. It's such an injustice."
A retrospective planning application by the couple to retain the fence was rejected by the council.
Now a Government planning inspector has dismissed the couple's appeal against an enforcement notice from the council to cut the fence in two.
Susan said they were shocked when their application was turned down and that they though it would 'just be a paperwork exercise'.
In his ruling, the inspector said: "Other examples of conspicuous fencing are no compelling reason to accept the fencing the subject of the deemed planning application."
Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning, Councillor Nick Botterill, said: "The enforcement notices in place are required to be met by March 16th 2023.
"We would strongly encourage anyone considering undertaking development to check with the council to establish if planning permission is required before starting any works.
"Should we receive any formal reports of any issues with other fences in the area, then we will investigate these in line with our normal processes and take appropriate action if required."
Ultimately, the couple say they will have to comply with the order, with Andrew saying "We are law abiding citizens, if they order is to reduce it then we will have to."
But they are worried about how they will afford the work given the ongoing cost of living crisis.
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