This amazing two-storey boat tree house which took six weeks to make may be torn down – because a killjoy council says it doesn't have planning permission .
Ben Baker, 33, asked his dad Paul to build his kids Lily, 3, and Elsie, 9, the tree house in their garden this summer.
And Paul, 57, used wooden decking, fences and windows to delight the youngsters in Donington, near Boston, Lincolnshire.
But Lincolnshire Live today reports the family's joy has been shattered – after miserable council chiefs told them "concerns had been raised" about the den.
The killjoy bosses knocked on the family's door to instruct them planning permission was needed.
Ben, who is a salesman, said: "It is frustrating.
''We had just finished the roof and then the next day we got a knock on the door to say someone had raised concerns about the treehouse.
"They said we needed planning permission for it but I never even thought about it."
The blue tree house, five metres in length and two and a half metres in depth, is built around a tree in the family's garden and only has one screw in it.
Paul built it over a six-week period and spent hundreds of pounds on the structure.
"I asked my dad if he could make my children a tree house and he built it in his spare time over six weeks. It's boat themed- which was completely his idea," Ben added.
"He found some old washing machine doors and he used them for the windows on the tree house so he built the whole thing around the washing machine doors.
"He sort of just got on with it and we chose the colour scheme.
"He wouldn't tell me exactly how much it cost but for all the metal and screws I think it would have cost quite a bit- at the least a few hundred. I don't think he wanted my step mum to know."
Now, the couple have since paid £225 to submit a retrospective planning application but are worried that they will need building regulations consent too.
Ben says this can cost between £400 and £500.
He said: "If we need that then I think we'll have to take it down but I'm hoping it won't come to that."
Since the council visit, they have changed the colour scheme and have said it shouldn't bother the neighbours because the children can't see into other gardens from it.
Ben added: "The neighbours seem to like it, some even donated the windows. It's just something different that stops people in their tracks."
If they get consent from the council, the family hope to deck out the playhouse with furniture.
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