HUNDREDS of people have signed a petition to save a 'mini pub' in a Kidderminster family's back garden, after it was ordered to be torn down.

The Shuttle reported earlier this week how builder Carl Roberts, 49, was told to remove his five-by-seven-metre outbuilding within 28 days, after a Bromford housing inspector claimed it was breaching building regulations and licensing laws, namely by selling alcohol.

Carl says 'The Dick Inn' pub, which has its own bar, pool table and flatscreen TV, cost him £6,000 to build and has only been used for family parties and barbecues.

Kidderminster Shuttle:

A petition has now been launched by Backyard Boozers, a Facebook group for people with garden pubs, calling on Bromford to reconsider.

Group founder Gary Jackson, who started the petition, said: "No evidence has been provided for the allegations of the selling of alcohol. This statement is wholly untrue.

"The owner is part of a very large community of bar owners worldwide and the owner has personally been involved in raising money for charity through the online Facebook group Backyard Boozers.

"All members of this group feel this is a unjust decision on the part of Bromford Housing.

"Any issues with size can be sorted with a further meeting with housing inspectors and bring it under their regulations but at no time has alcohol ever been sold."

He added: "Carl is just a bloke who has made a bit of money and built his family a boozer in his back garden.

"If he has breached planning regulations then he'll have to correct that, but telling him to take it down before he has a chance to do something about it seems extreme."

Since it was launched on Thursday (January 3), the petition has attracted nearly 500 signatures.

Kidderminster Shuttle:

Jo Fieldhouse, head of locality for Bromford, said: “The tenancy agreements we have with the customers who live in our homes allow customers to have a wooden shed in a private rear garden.

"The shed should measure no more than three metres by 2.4 metres and be for storage use only, providing written permission is first obtained and a number of conditions are met.

“Unfortunately Mr Roberts did not obtain permission and when a surveyor retrospectively assessed the structure, we found that it was well above the size deemed acceptable, measuring 4.9 metres by 7.1 metres and have therefore followed our usual procedures to ask Mr Roberts to remove the building.

"We do understand Mr Roberts’ circumstances and would certainly consider any requests for more time to deconstruct the structure.

“If a customer feels dissatisfied about a service or decision, we encourage them to follow our formal complaints process where the matter will be looked at and assessed again in line with our policies.”

View the petition at change.org/p/gary-van-jackson-save-the-uneccessary-removal-of-family-garden-bar.