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Fight to save hidden castle fails Fight to save hidden castle fails
(10 minutes later)
A Surrey farmer who built a castle without planning permission then hid it with a haystack has lost a High Court bid to save it from being demolished. A farmer who built a castle hidden inside a stack of straw bales has lost a High Court bid to save it from being demolished.
Robert Fidler, of Salfords, kept the building hidden until August 2006. Robert Fidler, of Salfords, Surrey, built the house, complete with turrets, without planning permission.
Reigate and Banstead Council issued him with an enforcement notice to demolish it in 2008. He kept it hidden until August 2006 and was ordered to tear it down by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council in 2008.
Mr Fidler appealed on the basis that his house, which has battlements and turrets, had stood for four years without anyone objecting to it. Mr Fidler appealed on the basis that his house had stood for four years without anyone objecting to it.
Mr Fidler had claimed he only started building the structure when the council did not answer his planning application to turn a cowshed into a house. He claimed he only started building the structure when the council did not answer his planning application to turn a cowshed into a house.