A homeowner has been given permission to build a wooden fence around his front garden after a planning inspector overturned a decision by Fenland planners.

The one metre high fence can be erected around the home in New Road, Chatteris, after the owner launched an appeal.

Terry Calvert has won the right to put up the fence around the front garden of his detached house on the corner of New Road and Green Park.

The garden is currently open plan and the go ahead for the fence has been given despite a condition on the original planning permission which restricts the erection of walls, fences and gates in the interests of visual appearance and highway safety.

Fenland District Council planning committee turned down the scheme in September saying it would be harmful to the appearance of the area, which planners said was characterised by open frontages.

However, a Government inspector said enclosed front gardens were a common feature of properties along New Road which meant it would not appear out of context with it surroundings.

“I am not persuaded that the proposal would be unacceptably harmful,” said Inspector I McHugh.

“The relatively low height of the fence would ensure that the spacious appearance of the corner plot is maintained,” the report adds.