Taxpayers fork out £20,000 to Mr Sparkles who built illegal mansion

Nov 13 2008 by Barry Gibson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

TAXPAYERS have been hit with a £20,000 bill after a failed attempt to knock down a Mirfield mansion.

Kirklees Council ordered Azam Yaqoob to demolish his £1m home at Huddersfield Road, which was built without planning permission.

But the owner of Mr Sparkles car wash in Dewsbury overturned the ruling on appeal – leaving council taxpayers to pick up his costs.

Clr Andrew Pinnock is a member of the council’s Heavy Woollen Planning Sub-committee, which refused permission for the mansion because it was too large and out-of-keeping with other houses at Huddersfield Road.

He said: “It’s one of those situations where we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t. If we hadn’t done anything, we’d be accused of being spineless.

“Sometimes committees do silly things, but I wouldn’t put this in the silly category.”