A couple ordered to dismantle colourful cladding from their beach-themed house have had success in overturning a council's "farcical" ruling.

Doug and Sue Brown, from Ramsgate, can now keep the blue, grey and white exterior on their London Road home without fear of sanctions.

They applied retrospectively to keep the seaside decoration on their extension, but their bid was rejected by Thanet District Council earlier this year on the grounds it was “visually intrusive and incongruous".

The refusal was in stark contrast to the immense level of support from neighbours who praised the "wonderful" house, but the authority was steadfast in its ruling that the cladding must be stripped down.

Yet Mr Brown - who was previously head of development at the council - decided not to give in, and lodged an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

Now, eight months down the line, the couple have been granted permission to keep the house as it is - overturning the council's order.

"I'm very pleased with the result," Mr Brown said.

"The inspector has rebutted what the council said, and taken fully on board the way I've looked at, that the site is not a prominent site, and that it includes elements of design that you expect in a seaside town.

"I accept that to follow the process correctly, I should have submitted an application to ask for the work that I did originally.

"But I'm worried that if I did do that, they would have said no and I would never have been able to do it.

"That doesn't seem right for anybody else that might want to do a similar thing and add a bit of colour and character.

"When I put the retrospective application in, it all became a bit farcical. Loads of people were in favour of it saying how wonderful the house looked, but that didn't seem to carry any weight as the council still rejected it."

'It all became a bit farcical...'

Inspector Nicola Davies visited the property at the end of November, and notified the Browns of her findings three days ago.

In quashing the council's refusal, Ms Davies states that the cladding's vibrant features are not out-of-keeping with the surrounding area.

"I find that the colour and finish of the cladding to the extension does not result in an incongruous or discordant form of the development and is not substantially visually harmful or intrusive at this corner location," the decision notice reads.

"I accept that the striped cladding would be different to that of the finish of any other property in the area.

"However, given the mix of finishes in the locality the striped composite cladding does not appear as an overtly visually discordant feature in this location."

Mr Brown hopes the decision could potentially set a precedent, and help district residents have more freedom in their design choices.

He said: "I hope the council will take note of the decision and allow people to bring a bit of life and colour to our lovely seaside town as it seems lacking in many of the larger new developments they are allowing."