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A brazen private ambulance driver has refused to tear down his illegal mega-garage after furious neighbours told how the towering structure has ‘destroyed’ their lives.
Daniel Toma, 41, erected the giant fortress-like metal garage beside his modest end-of-terrace home in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, without ever obtaining planning permission.
The hulking dark-green compound, complete with tall electric gates and fencing, stands 3.4 metres high and more than seven metres wide, dwarfing nearby hedges and driveways.
Yet despite being ordered to demolish the monolithic structure, Toma has refused to comply – insisting he needs the detached garage to house his ambulances.
The Romanian businessman defiantly told the Daily Mail: ‘I will not remove it. People in the area do not have a problem with it.’
Yet when our reporter visited the suburban street, where his crudely-built garage lies next to a primary school zebra crossing, furious neighbours were of a very different view.
Peter Loughlin, 74, whose view is now blocked, said: ‘It’s an absolute disgrace. He should be ashamed of himself.
‘He’s ruined my view. I’ve lived here 30 years and he is destroying my life. I cannot see out of it properly.
Pictured: The giant fortress-like metal garage, which stands 3.4 metres high and more than seven metres wide
The crudely-built garage (pictured) lies next to a primary school zebra crossing
Pictured: Daniel Toma, 41, who refuses to remove the illegal mega-garage
‘If I sit in my chair and look out I see a great big green compound. It’s horrible. The people there said they can do what they like.
‘Well, they can’t. I have reported it to the council and I won’t stop until it gets pulled down. It’s appalling.’
Mr Loughlin, who fears the garage reduces the value of his £350,000 terraced house, added: ‘It’s just terrible. I’m appalled.
‘I feel like I don’t want to live here anymore.’
Bermet Amanaeva, 40, who moved into her home in 2015 and said she was ‘horrified’ when the structure was installed.
She said: ‘It’s a nightmare. I have to look at it everyday. It’s so ugly. Also, when they drive in, they’re driving over a crossing. It’s dangerous.
‘They just do what they like. It’s an odd place, you don’t see ambulances very often. Other cars go in there. It makes me so angry.’
Other neighbours had also put in official complaints, including the immediate next door neighbours.
Peter Loughlin, 74, (pictured) whose view is now blocked said it is ‘destroying’ his life
Bermet Amanaeva, 40, (pictured) who moved into her home in 2015 and said she was ‘horrified’ when the structure was installed
Martin Suiter, 44, said it had been an ongoing saga for ‘months’.
He said: ‘It just came out of nowhere. We all object to it. We have told the bloke it’s appalling. They do not care.
‘If everyone was allowed to do that, how would the streets look? It’d be a free-for-all.’
Hertsmere council refused retrospective planning permission and then launched enforcement action, ordering Mr Toma to demolish the structure.
He appealed that decision, which has now been upheld by the Planning Inspectorate – who questioned why a garage of such size and design was required for a family home.
Mr Toma, whose ambulance business transports ‘mental health patients’ and ‘vulnerable young people’, and provides transport for ‘court appearances’, built the garage at his £600,000 home without obtaining consent from Hertsmere Council.