A TREE house built by a father for his two daughters looks likely to be torn down by town hall planners.

The lavish tree house was built by surgeon Dr Nick Strong in a beech tree at the bottom of his garden in Hexham, Northumberland, for daughters Katie, 11, and Amy, three.

It boasts two floors, a pine balcony with hand-tooled rails, pitched roof, a spiralling slide to the ground and an ornate staircase.

But the council is demanding the house be demolished after complaints from three neighbours saying the play house overlooks their properties.

Hexham Town Council also objected, saying that the structure was too big.

Dr Strong, 47, a consultant ophthalmologist at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary, said: "Perhaps I was being naive in building it without speaking to the planning authority, but I just didn't anticipate this response.

"I don't know what the world is coming to if children can't have a place to play in their own garden."

Tynedale District Council officers will meet at the site to see whether the structure needs retrospective planning permission.

Ingrid Whale, Hexham's Deputy Mayor, said: "The town council has objected to this.

"The objection is on the grounds of intrusion into the privacy of the neighbours, to the size of the play house and because it is in a conservation area."