A pensioner's attempt to assist his seriously ill wife has collided with council bureaucracy, leaving him facing financial devastation.
Stephen Price, a 65-year-old plumber from Hengoed, Caerphilly, invested £5,000 transforming his front garden into a driveway to ease his wife Kim's access to their home.
His 67-year-old wife suffers from numerous serious conditions including heart failure, two forms of achalasia, diverticulitis, pernicious anaemia, osteoarthritis and low blood pressure.
These health challenges make navigating their street particularly treacherous.
Yet council officials have demanded the driveway's removal, citing absent planning permission.
The demolition could cost the couple an additional £11,000 to £13,000 that they say they don't have.
Mr Price's predicament stems from a 20-year-old transaction with the council.
He said: "They never told me then I needed planning permission.
Hengoed, Caerphilly
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"They just told me I needed to pay this £300 - which is about £600 in today's money - that's all they said," Mr Price added.
The plumber had contacted authorities before installing a dropped kerb outside their semi-detached property.
He paid the required fee and proceeded with his plans.
Now, two decades later, officials claim the driveway lacks proper authorisation.
Mr Price questions whether he was "mis-sold" the kerb installation, noting: "They were happy enough to take my money."
The couple's residential circumstances have transformed dramatically during their 44-year tenure.
Initially, securing parking outside their home was not difficult, with merely five vehicles serving the dozen houses on their street.
Mr Price explains: "Now if everybody is in or people have visitors over there can be 25-30 cars, it's a nightmare."
This parking crisis directly endangers Mrs Price's wellbeing.
She revealed: "Due to the low blood pressure sometimes my head is just spinning and I sometimes fall. If my husband has to park up on the hill it makes it very difficult for me."
The great-grandmother rarely ventures outdoors except for essential medical appointments.
"I have lived here all my life and I don't want to move," she added.
Planning officers advised rejecting the retrospective permission application, highlighting "extensive excavation and loss of the raised front garden."
Councillor Nigel Dix urged colleagues to approve the driveway.
Committee chairman Roy Saralis acknowledged his "tremendous amount of sympathy" for Mr Price whilst maintaining that "planning is planning."
He noted the pensioner's right to appeal the decision.
The frustrated husband confirmed his intention to challenge the ruling.