A MAN who built a log cabin could be forced to tear parts of it down, if Southend Council takes action against him.

Brian Ayling, 64, built the cabin, with council planning permission, in Ennismore Gardens, Southend, in 2004, and has been living in it since last December.

But council planners believe he has broken the terms of the permission. They say it has been redesigned, with a kitchen and bathroom, and he is living in it.

The planning enforcement team has the power to order the removal of buildings it believes have been added or changed from the terms of the original application.

Andrew Meddle, the council’s head of planning, said: “Mr Ayling was given permission to build the log cabin as part of an application to extend the garden of the flat.

“It was stipulated the cabin was only to be used as an extra facility for the occupiers of the main flat. However, he has since extended the log cabin and is now using it as his main place of residence, while the flat is being rented out separately.

“This puts him in clear breach of planning regulations and has left us with no option but to recommend enforcement action be taken against him.”

Mr Ayling said the original permission gave him accommodation rights. He has informed Tory Rochford and Southend East MP James Duddridge about the issue.

In a letter to the council, Mr Ayling said: “There was, and there is, no unauthorised use of the cabin. It also happens to be my land. I do feel it is totally unnecessary for the council to take the enforcement line it is following.

“This action is costly, time-consuming and uneconomic.“ Councillors will decide what to do at the next development control meeting on April 14.