Our neighbour's Teletubby home is ruining our life! (2024)

A picture postcard village in one of England's quaintest rural counties has been torn apart by one woman's bid to build a giant Teletubby-style eco building as her 'forever home'.

June Titterton-Fox, 65, has lived in idyllic Whitwell in Rutland for 20 years but in recent months no one else in the village will talk to her - because her development has caused fury among well-heeled neighbours.

Now neighbours have complained that the partially-built eco-home 'looks nothing like' the plans they were shown when she applied for planning permission - though they say it does look uncannily like the building inhabited by Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa Laa and Po in the famous pre-school children's TV series.

And, in a dramatic twist, the local council has advised rare breeds farmer Mrs Titterton-Fox that she may be in breach because the building appears to be taller than she was given permission for - and any further building work will be 'at her own risk' as they may later order the house to be demolished.

Today one couple, who have watched the charming rural views from their £1.2m home become dominated by the construction of the giant new build, told of their fury that the project was allowed to go ahead.

Simon and Beverley Jackson claim that the windows of the distinctive newbuild - constructed by their former friend and neighbour and likened to the subterranean home from the children's TV show - now face directly into their bedroom and bathroom, destroying their privacy.

Insurance broker Mr Jackson fumed: 'There is no getting away from it. When people are living there they will be able to see us in bed and see us in the shower. That is an invasion of our space and privacy, and is alarming. We feel sick.'

His devastated wife Beverley added: 'I hate living here now. I wake up every morning and see that monstrosity staring back at me from my bed.'

'I go to my ensuite to take a shower and I see it, I go to my dressing and make-up room to get ready for work and I see it.'

Mrs Jackson, a semi-retired MD of a legal services firm, continued: 'I go downstairs to my kitchen and lounge and I still see it. It is horrendous.

'It is a massive intrusion, it was meant to be built into sunken hollow ground but it sticks out like a sore thumb, and it is farcical.

'No one around here likes it, and even when visitors and friends come over they say 'What on earth is that in the field behind?'

'The building should be disguised by greenery, it should be covered, but most importantly it should be much lower in height.'

The parents of two, who have four grandchildren, have lived in the beauty spot in Whitwell, Rutland, for 20 years - just like Mrs Titterton-Fox.

Their stunning detached home, worth £1.2 million, is a converted farm grain store.

Mr Jackson said: 'We are on an A-road which can be busy and noisy but on a positive we have overlooked greenbelt land to the rear of our property with Rutland Water to the front. It is a beautiful county.

'But now our view from behind is blighted.'

He told how he and fellow residents had vehemently opposed the original plan for a controversial development from Mrs Titterton-Fox.

But when the rare breeds farmer and Rutland County Councillor finally won on appeal villagers reluctantly accepted the decision.

Objections resurfaced in autumn last year, six months after building works had started in the spring last year and appeared to be far exceeding the plans approved.

Mr Jackson said: 'It was not in keeping with the original approved plans, which we all conceded and accepted, and the height of the property has increased by 60 per cent.

'It is too high, and intrusive, and there are two large mounds of earth stacked up on site.

'Although no one is living there now, they will be, and it has devalued our property by at least £100,000.

'One neighbour is trying to sell as she wants to downsize but is finding it difficult because of the view.

'But of all the houses in the village we are the most directly affected.'

He emphasised: 'We raised concerns to the planning enforcement officer last November but nothing was done immediately, and building works continued.

'It was obvious, and we could see, that the dimensions, plans and scale had changed.'

Other neighbours complained and the officer finally carried out a site visit in March and said it was not in keeping with the original plans.

The bitter saga began in 2020 when Mrs Titterton-Fox submitted a bold proposal for a three-bedroom home semi-submerged into the hillside of a five-acre field, which she claimed would be one of the most energy-efficient properties in the UK.

The village united in objections to prevent the rare breeds farmer from going ahead with the works. And the council initially sided with the objectors - rejecting her proposals.

But then Mrs Titterton-Fox and her husband Andrew, 60, won on appeal by convincing planning inspectors that her idea had a 'wow factor' that meant it should go ahead.

Planning Inspector Dominic Young was clearly impressed by Mrs Titterton-Fox's proposal and ruled: 'The state-of-the-art property has been carefully and sensitively designed to the most exacting environmental standards.'

He added: 'Given the dwelling would be built into the hillside with no part of its structure protruding above the natural topography… it would have very little impact,' adding that the design had the 'wow factor'.

That seemed to be the end of the matter as work got underway in the field at the edge of the village but there would be one more twist: as the building took shape those living nearby became convinced it was much bigger than the agreed plans.

Now neighbours say it looks nothing like the images they were shown to visualise it in advance.

Instead of what they were promised, they say, the earth 'bund' which covered the roof in the initial design appears to have been dispensed with and instead of nestling into the hillside, the building seems to stand proud of it.

And a wall of glass now features significant numbers of stone pillars and additional stone walls have been added to retain the earth at the side of the house, they say.

And in recent weeks, a planning enforcement officer has given off-the record guidance to neighbours that 'the elevation, levels and height of the building now significantly deviate from the approved plans and the development is therefore unauthorised.'

Mr Jackson went on: 'Now there has been an unofficial halt on works continuing, as they have been classed as unauthorised, but the owner has been told she can carry on but at her own risk.'

The building - first described as 'more like something from Teletubby Land' by neighbours when plans were submitted four year ago - is properly titled Field House.

Fellow objectors Nicholas and Alison Cato wrote to the council saying that when work began last year: 'Local people observed that the dwelling taking shape did not resemble the one shown on the drawings and authorised by the Inspector in his decision notice.

'The Inspector was moved to write that he saw a 'wow factor' in the development for which he granted planning permission.

'He believed that he was approving an exceptional design, one that would raise standards of design more generally in rural areas, significantly enhance its immediate setting and be sensitive to the defining characteristics of the local area.

'What has in fact been built and what the applicant is seeking to gain approval for retrospectively is, to borrow a word and its application from our King, an ugly carbuncle on the face of Rutland that the Inspector would not recognise or, surely, ever have approved.'

And since emails began flying back and forth, one RCC Planning Enforcement Officer is understood to have told an objector in an email: 'The elevation, levels and height of the building now significantly deviate from the approved plans and the development is therefore unauthorised….I think the Inspector would be shocked by what has been built.'

Grandmother Mrs Titterton-Fox started her farming dream with a few chickens after being inspired by the 1970s sitcom The Good Life, in which Tom and Barbara, a suburban couple, ditched their jobs to become self-sufficient.

Mrs Titterton-Fox, who has two adult children from her first marriage, began by renting two fields near their home in 2002 - before buying them two years later.

Starting with sheep, she moved on to rearing rare-breed cattle and pigs, and now sells surplus meat from 'June's Farm'.

At the time of her appeal victory in 2022 Mrs Titterton-Fox said she was 'delighted' the plans had finally been approved following the 'horrible' and 'hostile' row with her neighbours.

She added: 'A couple have people have congratulated me but mostly it has been really hostile. I've had a lot of negativity on social media, it has been horrible.

'We appealed once and because of the amount of local objection we pushed for a hearing with the Planning Inspectorate.

'You get more of an opportunity to put forward your case and that's why it took so long. I'm really pleased we got it through.

'It's just been going on for so long, I just wanted closure.

'Whatever the outcome, I just wanted to get on with my life.

'Our house is far too big for us now so we would have to move.

'It was all a bit up in the air.

'We wanted to stay in Rutland and now we have planning permission we know that will now be possible.

'I've been on crutches a few times the past couple of years so I wanted something all on one floor.

'It will be our last home.'

Rutland County Council was contacted by MailOnline. The village lies between Oakham, which boasts the first memorial statue to the late Queen, and historic Stamford in neighbouring Cambridgeshire,.