Is this a suitable house style for a rural area between Ottery and Sidmouth? Town councillors in Ottery don’t think so.

Councillor Roger Giles of Ottery Town Council called it ‘ugly’. Others likened it to a ‘heliport’, ‘a factory’ or ‘an office block’.

The councillors were considering an application by Mr and Mrs M Pegley to demolish an existing bungalow at Badgers Rest, East Hill, and replace it with a new house and garage.

It was suggested that while it was away from other dwellings, it did not blend in with the countryside, would be visible from the valley and ‘stick out like a sore thumb’, especially given the nearby Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The councillors on the planning committee decided that while they had no objection to a replacement home in principle, they could not support the application as submitted as it was ‘not in keeping with the rural aspect’.

Planning authority East Devon District Council will have the final say on the fate of the application.