A PENSIONER is in dispute with the council over a fenced area in front of her home.

Dorothy Owers, 70, built the enclosure at her house in Eskdale Place, Newton Aycliffe, after seeing a number of others in the neighbourhood.

She is carer for David Peacock, who lives with her, and the pair like to sit outside in the privacy of the enclosure.

But the land is owned by Sedgefield Borough Council, and because Mrs Owers did not seek permission she has been asked to remove the fence.

Mrs Owers offered to buy or lease the land from the council, but it declined because planning permission would not be granted anyway.

Mrs Owers has been told that if she does not take the fence down the council will issue court proceedings.

She says she is being singled out.

"If everybody has to take theirs down, then I'll abide by the decision and I'll take mine down," she said.

"But there are people round here who have had fences up for ages and nobody's said a thing about it."

A council spokeswoman denied Mrs Owers was being treated differently.

She said: "We are dealing with several matters of encroachment in Newton Aycliffe and each case is being dealt with in exactly the same way.

"There are two other cases referred to the council solicitor along with Mrs Owers."

The spokeswoman said that other cases, where enclosures had been built on home-owners' land, which might breach regulations, were also being investigated by the council's planning enforcement officers.