A CONTROVERSIAL plan to build a six-bed home on green space now looks to have been refused.

Work has already started on building a four-bed home on land off Nunnery Lane which had been the subject of a two-year row over whether anything should be allowed to be built at all.

Worcester City Council’s planning committee met again to decide whether to grant permission for a six-bed home but went against the recommendation of the council’s own officers and refused it.

Councillors rejected a plan for a four-bed home but that was overturned by a government inspector earlier this year.

Council officers had said the latest plan would be no more overbearing than the home allowed on appeal despite it being taller but councillors disagreed.

The planning committee agreed to refuse the application because it would be too tall, would be out-of-character with neighbours' homes and needed more car parking spaces.

As the refusal by councillors at a planning committee meeting on Thursday (September 24) went against the recommendation of officers, councillors will meet again to make a final decision next month.

Mr Khalid defended the plan at Thursday’s meeting saying the plan had changed from four rooms to six after “deeper consideration” about his family and he simply wanted more children in the future.

He said the height of his planned six-bed home merely matched his neighbours.

“I don’t think we’re even the tallest building in the street,” he added.

Cllr Roger Berry called for the plan to be approved to “bring an end to the sorry saga.”

Several neighbours in Nunnery Lane had objected to the plan saying despite minor changes being made by applicant Jabran Khalid, the home would still be too tall and would again affect wildlife and the privacy of neighbours.

The council’s planning committee rejected the plan to build a two-storey four-bedroom home in Nunnery Lane off Spetchley Road next to a bungalow known as Rose Villa in May.

Applicant Mr Khalid successfully appealed to the government’s planning inspectorate earlier this year to overturn the decision.

Mr Khalid put forward a new plan to the city council but added two more bedrooms before a decision was made by the government inspector on the original plan.