Couple who kept secret home behind fake garage door fined by council
A COUPLE who hid a secret home behind a fake garage door after illegally converting it have been told to pay more than £2,000 in fines and costs.
Reeta Herzallah and Hamdi Almasri hid a secret home behind a fake garage door
Reeta Herzallah and Hamdi Almasri also used fences to screen it and even created a driveway for it that led onto a busy dual carriageway.
Leicester magistrates convicted them of breaching planning regulations and ordered them to restore the tiny house back to a garage.
A retrospective planning application to keep the new house in Enderby, Leics, was dismissed on appeal by the Planning Inspectorate a year ago.
But last summer council inspectors found that the building was still a house so they took the couple to court.
If you breach planning regulations and ignore us we will not just go away
Blaby council planning chief Sheila Scott said: “If you breach planning regulations and ignore us we will not just go away.
“We will be following up the prosecution with a visit to ensure all requirements are fully complied with.”
Planning permission for a home in 2007 was given but with a condition a garage was maintained to deal with parking issues.
The couple, who did not attend the hearing, were fined £770 and ordered to pay more than £1,300 costs and a £77 victim surcharge.