Metal racking with the appearance of a “rollercoaster” has appeared at the bottom of a family's garden and kicked off a row about planning permission.

Jenny Mason, who lives with her family in East Harling, near Thetford, said that large metal racking erected by a neighbouring timber yard had ruined the view from her house.

“We’ve moved from London to our dream home in Norfolk," she said.

“When we moved here, our outlook was trees, countryside. Now, we are looking at a steel rollercoaster-looking-like structure at the back of our garden.”

Miss Mason said the “monstrosity” had gone up four weeks ago without planning permission.

She added that the racking spanned the length of four properties and was “hideous”.

“We knew that we were moving next to a timber yard, we appreciated that,” she said.

“Nothing else they’ve done so far has bothered us, but this is disgusting.”

The racking bays are six metres high, made up of 21 bays with a total length of 36.2m.

Crendon Timber Engineering, which owns the yard, is now seeking retrospective planning permission from Breckland Council to keep the racking up.

A statement prepared by Crendon’s agents says the company had originally thought permission from the council was not needed.

It says the racking will give the firm “much needed additional storage capacity, which is necessary to meet current and future demands, especially with the growing housing market”.

It also claims the racking will allow them “to work more efficiently with less vehicle movements and a safer alternative to the current storage”.

Crendon’s East Harling branch director said he understood local residents’ concerns and that informal conversations had been had with them to see whether the racking’s appearance could be improved.

The council is due to issue a decision on whether to grant permission for the racking by September 26.

The plans can be viewed by searching for planning reference 3PL/2022/0875/F at planning.breckland.gov.uk/OcellaWeb/planningSearch.