Telford kebab shop owner given four months to tear down unlawful and 'incongruous' timber extension

The owners of Kebab King on Madeley's High Street have been given four months to take down an unlawful timber extension built on the property around five years ago.

Telford & Wrekin Council initially issued an enforcement notice on the property in March last year, ordering the business owner to permanently remove the structure which had been erected to the side and rear of the takeaway.

In the notice, the council said structure "fails to be in keeping with the character and appearance" of the area, which is within the Severn Gorge Conservation Area the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site.

The authority added that the footprint of the timber building was “neither modest nor subservient” and “resulted in an incongruous and unsympathetic addition” to the high street.

But Shevki Aribas, who was listed on Companies House at the time as manager of Madeley Kebab and Pizza Ltd, appealed the enforcement notice with the Government Planning Inspectorate.

Now - more than one year after the appeal was lodged - a planning inspector has upheld the original enforcement notice and told the company that it must remove the extension.

Mr Aribas had attempted to argue that the extension had been in place too long to face enforcement action, claiming the structure had been completed by April 1, 2021.

But the council’s enforcement notice was issued on March 6, 2025 - meaning the extension was one month out from qualifying for the four-year limitation period.

The planning inspectorate’s report also stated that the appellant requested that the compliance period be extended from four months to eight months, but provided no detailed explanation or supporting evidence to demonstrate why it would be necessary.

Having concluded that four months was a sufficient timeframe to remove the unauthorised structure, Inspector S A Hanson dismissed the appeal.

The company now has four months to remove the building and all the materials.