POLICE are to investigate a convicted couple’s plans to extend their £500,000 Shepley home.

Fraudsters Mark Small and Sian Lewis were sentenced by a court after turning their home in The Knowle into a pirate DVD factory.

Bradford Crown Court was told in February how the couple generated £170,000 in a year copying classic TV programmes and selling them over the internet.

A judge ruled that the couple would not benefit financially from their crimes and imposed a legal order to restrict their financial dealings.

Mr Small, 47, was jailed for nine months and his 21-year-old partner – who had a lesser role in the operation – was given 140 hours’ community service.

Now the Examiner can reveal that Ms Lewis has submitted a planning application to Kirklees Council to create a granny annex by building extensions and converting the double garage.

In a letter to the Examiner, neighbours expressed their concerns at the plans and said it seemed the couple were trying to cash in.

The letter said the plans sent out a message that “crime DOES pay”.

The court was told that the couple illegally copied BBC programmes from the 60s, 70s and 80s such as Just Good Friends, Top of the Pops and Ellery Queen.

Over more than a year Mr Small estimated he had made a profit of about £80,000.

Judge Peter Benson said the fraudulent activity had “netted a considerable amount of money”.

More than 8,800 counterfeit DVDs were seized.

Judge Benson said he was sentencing Small as the prime mover and there was no alternative to an immediate prison term.

After the case Pc John Barrett from the Kirklees Proceeds of Crime Act team said the couple would not be allowed to profit from their crimes.

This week a West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “The couple are subject to a Crown Court restraint order which restricts their financial dealings.

“In addition they are still subject to a confiscation process which, if breached, has legal consequences.

“Enquiries will be made with the local council to establish the nature of these claims.”

Miss Lewis told the Examiner that “all our assets are frozen” and that the annex was for her mother and father who were paying all the costs.

She confirmed the house was “under restraint”.

Asked whether the annex would increase the value of the house she said it could be reduced by the loss of the double garage.

She added: “We have no intention of selling the property.”