Homeowner ordered to apply for planning permission

A pensioner is involved in a bitter planning row after one neighbour complained she had painted her pink house a slightly darker shade.

Su Rose, of Belsize Park in Camden, north-west London, first painted her town house light pink in 1991 after moving into the street in 1975.

But last year after she changed to a 'sombre, earthy and mature' pink, just two shades darker, the retired 70-year-old unintentionally broke planning rules because she lives in a conservation area.

When the local council received one letter of objection, she was forced to apply for retrospective planning permission in what she has dubbed a 'storm in a pink teacup'.