A BUILDER has been told to suspend work on a plush executive house after its height exceeded planning permission.

Charles Church builders must now apply for retrospective planning permission for the £320,000 detached house, in Ingleby Barwick, near Stockton.

Residents complained to Stockton Borough Council after noticing that the height of the property was about half a metre above their houses and others in the vicinity.

They said they had watched the builders' progress with the house after an earlier disagreement with Charles Church, when plans for the development were changed.

Father-of-two Sean Nolan, of Brougham Close, said he moved into his five-bedroom house last summer in the knowledge that other houses were to be built behind it.

However, he said that instead of Charles Church sticking to the original idea of his rear garden backing onto the rear garden of a new house, the new property was turned around, so its gable end was close to his perimeter fence.

"I realise the property is largely built, but I want the height lowered," he said. "I am very upset about this whole thing. When I originally went to buy our house I was told that the two back gardens would back onto each other.

"But they then changed the plans without any consultation, so I have a gable end a couple of metres from my boundary fence, and now it is higher than it should be.

"I wouldn't have bought the house if I had known."

His neighbour, Nick Matthews, said the latest problem with the height was the last straw.

He said residents had been forced to object to the council again - the first time being when they complained about the changes to the plans. On that occasion, Charles Church agreed to move the new house slightly further away.

Mr Matthews said: "First, they decided to plonk a property right next to my back fence, and now it is higher than it should be.

"I have contacted Charles Church, but have not heard back. It's horrendous."

A spokesman for Stockton council said: "We were made aware of the situation and have investigated. Building on that property has been suspended and the applicant has been asked to submit a revised application."

A spokesperson for Charles Church said: "Charles Church has already received planning permission for the development and is working with the planning authority to make some minor changes to the elevational detail of the plot in question."