A garden shed in Chalfont St Peter will be removed after neighbours slammed the “overbearing” impact it has on their home.

Judi Wilson, who lives in The Greenway, went before Chiltern District Council’s (CDC) planning committee last week to argue the case against her neighbour’s 2.54 metre-tall outbuilding.

Numerous phone calls are made from the shed, according to Mrs Wilson, which disturbs her and her husband’s privacy as they relax on their patio, just metres away.

Mrs Wilson said she is carer for her husband who has Alzheimer’s, and he can be “disturbed by sudden, unfamiliar noises”, such as phone calls, adding the building sits just 1.74 metres from their fence.

Addressing CDC’s planning committee on Thursday, October 4, Mrs Wilson said: “These dimensions breach the planning guidelines, meaning the outbuilding does not have permitted development rights.

“Implicit in the guidelines are, that if an outbuilding is too high and too close to a neighbour’s boundary, it must surely harm the neighbour’s amenity, and this is most certainly true in my case.

“I depend heavily on our small back patio to relax with my husband who has Alzheimer’s.

“I am his carer. He is easily disturbed by sudden unfamiliar noise, such as telephone calls.

“In summer, when we use our patio most, doors and windows are left open, meaning we are forced to listen to conversations which disturb our privacy.”

Other residents living in The Greenway have also objected to the shed, with Anita Haworth stating the building is “out of character with the neighbourhood”, in a letter to CDC.

Councillor Nick Rose said he had “no objection” to the building being elsewhere in the neighbouring garden, however said it is currently an “intrusion” on the Wilsons’ privacy.

However councillor Jane MacBean said while she has “every sympathy” with the couple, the “most logical place” for someone to put a shed is at the bottom of the garden.

She said: “These are very small gardens, and I don’t see how you can move that shed to another point, you are just going to have another neighbour saying it is impacting on my amenity space.”

Councillors voted to refuse the retrospective planning application, stating the proximity of the building to the neighbour’s fence “contravenes our general conditions”.