DUDLEY Council unanimously agreed to take enforcement action over the siting of a 1.9-metre high flue on an outbuilding in a Stourbridge garden.

A retrospective plan was submitted to the council’s planning committee seeking permission for the flue plus a wooden garage and outbuilding in Clifton Street, which had been built following the demolition of a previous garage.

Councillors on Dudley’s development control committee agreed at a meeting at the Council House on July 19 to grant planning permission retrospectively for the garage and outbuilding. But they refused to give approval for the giant flue, which serves a log burner, with councillor Bryan Cotterill branding it as “grotesque”.

Councillor Jackie Cowell, committee chairman, said enforcement action would follow to ensure the flue is removed – on the grounds of its adverse visual impact.