A HOMEOWNER has reacted with disbelief after being told by the council to remove the gravel he put down outside his house – 16 years ago.

Gordon Harris, 64, has lived in his home in Kershaw Road in Eldene for 38 years with his wife Jean.

After continued problems with the state of the grass verge outside 16-years-ago, he decided to clear it and put gravel down instead.

Now, after almost two decades, he has been told to put the grass back again.

“When it was grass, cars would park on the ground and it would get all muddy and churned up, it could get a foot deep when some of the lorries parked on it,” said Gordon.

“It would end up covered in dog mess and cat mess, more mud than grass to be honest – it wasn’t very nice to have right out the front of your house.

“What we’ve done is definitely a vast improvement and it looks a lot better than it used to.”

Gordon says his neighbours approved of his modifications at the time and he never heard a word from the council about the changes.

But at about 10am yesterday morning, his wife noticed a man taking photos outside.

“He said he was from the council and that my gravel was a breach of the regulations,” said Gordon.

“Now they’ve told me I will get a letter in writing telling me I have 28 days to put it back how it used to be.

“But I don’t know where I’m going to find a load of dog mess and tyre marks because that’s what was there before.

“The council are supposed to have limited resources and they’re wasting money on things like this.”

Gordon understands that the council’s much-delayed intervention was prompted by a complaint, although he doesn’t have any idea who it might have come from.

He was also told the council preferred to have grass on its verges.

However, in a number of other areas of Swindon, the council themselves have put down plastic grids to aid parking which has killed off the grass and left a rather unsightly mix of mud and weeds in its place.

A spokesperson for Swindon Borough Council said: “This is one of those cases where the council can’t win. A complaint was received from a resident about the gravel, which means we either ignore the complaint or we take it up with the owner of the house.

“We’re happy to discuss the timescale for restoring the verge, but residents can’t simply put gravel on a public highway verge without permission.

“The verges along the rest of the road are covered in grass, which is why we’ve asked for the grass to be restored.

“We appreciate that the gravel may have been laid many years ago, but now it’s been brought to our attention we can’t ignore it.”