Planners have rejected a plea by Heather Mills to let her keep a swimming pool built without permission in the grounds of her luxury country estate.
Sir Paul McCartney’s estranged wife landed herself in hot water after splashing out on the 12m x 6.6m below-ground pool without consent from her council.
Planning officers spotted it while visiting Mills’ £3 million mansion in Robertsbridge to see if she had taken down a marquee left up without permission.
Parish councillors backed a recommendation that her bid for retrospective consent for the pool be rejected. They voted for refusal after hearing it lies outside the garden of the property, which served a commercial use as a former orchid nursery.
Parish clerk Karen Ripley said: “Do we want people putting in swimming pools in fields? It’s a very long way from the house.”
Mills is battling to keep the pool on the grounds it could be used by firefighters to extinguish a blaze.
If Rother district councillors refuse to grant retrospective permission Miss Mills could be ordered to demolish the pool.
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