Millionaire White Stuff founder refusing to tear down tennis court

The millionaire founder of White Stuff has sparked fury after failing to tear down a skate park and tennis court built at his home without permission. Sean Thomas built a two-storey double garage and tennis court on farmland behind his house in South Hams, Devon. White Stuff founder Sean Thomas was ordered to tear down the two-storey double garage, a skate park and a tennis court at his beauty spot mansion last September Sean Thomas built the home in 2012, after the demolition of a bungalow formerly owned by the environmentalist Tony Soper, co-founder of the BBC's Natural History Unit Pictured here is the view of the tennis court looking towards the two-storey double garage with solar panelling Both South Hams Council and Mr Thomas said discussions were ongoing. An image taken from council documents shows the double garage as viewed on the approach to the home Mr Thomas and his wife later acquired an adjoining strip of agricultural land in 2016 to build the tennis court, skate park and garage Planners rejected the application and Mr Thomas and his wife were told that the land must be returned to its former condition The site is in the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and alongside the Salcombe to Kingsbridge Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest On its website, the fashion brand White Stuff boasts that it spends 'a lot of time figuring out how to do minimal damage to the world around us' The house was built after a controversial planning application in 2011, on the site of a bungalow formerly owned by the environmentalist Tony Soper, co-founder of the BBC's famous Natural History Unit. Mr Thomas and his wife later acquired an adjoining strip of agricultural land to build the tennis court, skate park and garage, which was finished in 2016.