BARROW Council has ordered a homeowner to make urgent changes to a property left in an 'unacceptable' condition.

The authority said ivy growing over a home in Barrow was affecting the 'amenity' of nearby residents and needed to be rectified.

It served a legal notice on the owner of the property in Storey Square, requiring several improvements to be carried out urgently.

Pictures shared by the council show large amounts of vegetation covering the front and back of the house.

In an enforcement notice, the council said: "It appears to the Council that the property has been left in an untidy condition for some considerable time. A search of the property on Google Street View confirms that condition of the property was poor in both 2014 and 2018.

"It is considered that the condition of the property results in an unacceptable condition and causes harm to the amenity of the residents and therefore it is expedient for the Council to exercise its powers in serving a Section 215 Unity Land Notice in order to mitigate the harm caused to the amenity of the local area."

The council has ordered a number of changes.

The notice told the householder: "Remove all vegetation i.e. Ivy from the front South-east elevation and North-east  side elevation of the house.

"Hack off all perished, unkeyed and cracked render on all elevations of the house and replace using suitable materials to match the existing.

"Repair the damaged brickwork on the rear corner of the boundary wall and hack off all perished, unkeyed and cracked render on the external public facing elevations of the side and rear brick boundary walls.

"Removal all redundant satellite dishes."

The council also said the outside of the home needed to be painted and the windows cleaned and the front garden needed to be tidied.

"Cut down to ground level, all vegetation within the front garden and remove all rubbish including the redundant gravel sack from the site, leaving the site in a clean, tidy condition," the notice.

"Trim back trees and vegetation within the rear garden, ensuring that no
vegetation over hangs the pavement to the northeast of the site on to School Street.

"Replace the boarding from the side entrance to the rear garden from School Street and replace with a sturdy full height wooden gate."

The householder was given until October to complete the improvements.