A businessman has become tangled up in red tape after he tried to protect his home from burglars who had targeted him repeatedly.

Each time there was a break-in, the thieves had climbed over the gate so he decided to raise its height to three metres in a bid to thwart them.

With his neighbour's permission he installed a security panel above the side gates of the semi-detached properties to prevent intruders from clambering over.

He also put in a new wooden ranch-style gate across the entrance to his home in Gordon Road, Shoreham.

The thefts stopped immediately but the father-of-four found himself caught up in a tangle of red tape after complaints were made to his local council.

Both the panel and the gate exceeded the permitted maximum heights allowed under Adur District Council's planning regulations. A retrospective planning application was turned down by the council and an appeal against refusal was dismissed last September.

Now the council has told him the security panel must come down but the front gate can stay.

The businessman, 48, who does not want to be named, said: "It used to be that an Englishman's home was his castle but not any more. I am only trying to protect my family.

"We put the panel up over the gates after things began to go missing from our back garden, including our children's toys.

"Someone even broke into our conservatory and tried to steal Bud, our golden Labrador, but our daughter came home just as the thief was leaving with him and he ran off.

"We were worried about security and the safety of our children, especially after Sarah Payne was abducted. My youngest daughter is only 11 and we have a granddaughter too.

"The main railway line from Brighton runs along the bottom of the garden and you never know who is looking into the garden from the train.

"Some of the thieves admitted they had sat on the train and had gone back to houses where they had seen something in the garden they fancied stealing.

"The Government keeps telling us to help ourselves by protecting our homes but then the local council does everything it can to stand in your way."

Neighbour Eileen Hughes has also had property taken from her garden.

Mrs Hughes, 63, said: "My neighbour put the panel across the top of our gates to improve our security.

"I am very angry and upset that the council is going to make us take it down again.

"We have not had any problems since it went up and they are bound to start again as soon as it comes down."

Adur's planning committee is being recommended to issue an enforcement notice requiring the security panel be removed when it meets on Thursday.

A report to the committee states: "The panel exceeds the relevant height limit of two metres.

"The planning inspector sympathised with the occupier's attempts to provide a more secure environment for his family.

"He noted that the thefts had only ceased once the panel had been erected.

"Nevertheless, he concluded that the dense wooden barrier was obtrusive and incongruous in the street scene.

"The prominent and alien impact is emphasised due to the panelling extending almost up to the full height of the roofs of both properties."

If the enforcement notice is confirmed by the planning committee the businessman will have a month to take down the security panel.