A BELOVED family treehouse is at risk of being torn down after a neighbour complained it was an ‘eyesore’ – but a petition to save it has reached over 1,000 signatures.

Alexandra Beattie’s treasured garden shelter at her home in Dukes Ride, Crowthorne, is facing demolition after she was ordered to pull it down following a long battle with the council’s planning department.

Alexandra’s late husband Ian built the treehouse for their two children, Isabella and Hamish, before he died in 2008.

However, after receiving a single complaint in 2011, the council informed Alexandra that the treehouse was ‘visually harmful’, ‘not in keeping with the area’s character’ and has damaged the tree.

She was served with an enforcement notice last summer but has appealed to the planning inspectorate.

She said: “We lost my husband suddenly when we were on holiday in Cornwall and my children were only six and five.

“When they were younger, it was a way for them to feel closer to daddy in heaven and they still go up there now if they’re having a bad time or want their own space.

“My daughter used it as her special place when she was revising for her exams.

“Everyone loves the treehouse. That is what I find the hardest to get my head around. People would be stuck in traffic and lean out of the car window and shout over how much they loved it.

“This all started back in 2011 when I received a letter to say I needed to apply for planning permission as it didn’t tick the boxes of the council’s building regulations.

“I would understand if I lived in a built-up housing estate and it was overlooking somebody, but it isn’t.

“At first the council was sympathetic and explained they had only had one complaint but they had a duty to chase it up. Now it has got to the point where they won’t change their minds.”

Alexandra is expecting a final decision soon from the planning inspector, but hopes an online petition, set up with her friend Michelle Laxton, will be a last-ditch attempt to try and save the treehouse.

To sign the petition visit www.change.org/p/bracknell-forest-save-the-beattie-s-tree-house