Windermere jetty erection angers South Lakes council

The offending jetty on the edge of Windermere at Louper Weir

A company director has apologised for installing a jetty on England's longest lake without permission from its owners.

Stavros Neocleous was given planning consent but failed to get approval from South Lakeland District Council (SLDC), to which the lake bed belongs.

SLDC complained there was no agreement to "encroach" on its land before the jetty was built.

A committee meeting was told jetties should be kept under "tight control".

Mr Neocleous had consent from the Lake District National Park Authority and Environment Agency to replace the dilapidated jetty at Louper Weir on Newby Bridge Road, but not from SLDC.

The council's lake administration committee was told Mr Neocleous has "sincerely apologised" and was "unaware" the jetty had already been installed.

It decided not to order it to be pulled down.

The house is described by a holiday company which lets it out as a "luxurious detached property on Millionaire's Mile" with its own private shoreline and jetty, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Committee chairman Doug Rathbone suggested a letter "strongly" expressing disappointment, but town councillor Pete Hamilton said: "I think in reality for millionaires, these letters don't mean toffee, do they?"

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