DIRECTORS of a funeral home have vowed to fight Bradford Council in the courts over a disputed garage they have been told to demolish after it was built without planning permission.

Carmelina Kirkland and Jayne Howe set up their new business, Carmelina's Funeral Care three years ago.

In order to conduct the business with dignity from the building on Otley Road they needed a discreet way of bringing the deceased into the building away from prying eyes.

So they had a larger metal-clad garage built to replace an existing pebbledash one, and claim they took advice from Bradford Council planners on suitable materials.

But three years on, and a handful of failed retrospective planning bids and appeals later, the Council has ordered them to knock it down.

In the latest twist, the pair have now vowed to take a stand, after the last deadline at the beginning of this month has expired. They feel they have no option in order to protect their business, which could not operate properly without the extension.

Ms Kirkland told the Telegraph & Argus: "This garage is vital to the dignified running of our funeral home. Without it we could lose our business.

"We feel as if we have offered solutions but the Council still wants us to just demolish it."

She added that, not wanting to get their landlord into trouble, they were going to comply, but after a recent discussion he has advised them to "leave it up - let them take it to court".

"We believe we have been treated unfairly and been singled out by the Council," she added.

Ms Howe explained that they had initially sought advice from the planning department and had been under the impression that the materials and colour scheme they used were suitable, as they reflected a similar neighbouring building.

She also added that they had been let down by planning agents and a final appeal had been submitted three days too late.

They recently confirmed to Council planners that they would still be willing to alter the materials used for the garage to something acceptable and had money set aside to get the job done.

But the Council believes that limited weight should be given to the "belated proposals" put forward earlier this year to render the walls and replace the roof with slates, as they do not believe they have "demonstrated that the suggested treatment is technically feasible".

A Bradford Council spokesperson, said: “This unauthorised extension was built without planning permission in early 2017.

“A neighbour complained it was built over their land and we are concerned the extension is causing problems to a drain to the front of the property.

“The government inspector agrees with us that the extension harms the appearance of this valuable conservation area. Two planning applications have been refused, one of which was dismissed at appeal.

“The late attempt by Carmelina’s Funeral Care to change the materials doesn’t address the government inspector’s concerns with the extension’s poor design.

“The inspector gave the funeral home extra time to sort this out, however, six months after the extended deadline, the extension remains.

“We will continue to work with the property owners but if they continue to refuse to address the extensive problems, the council will continue with enforcement action.”