A fence around a Silsden day nursery has been branded an eyesore by council planners.

Dradishaw House has been ordered to tear down the six-foot-high fence surrounding its outdoor play area.

But bosses claim the fence is essential to keep children safe by stopping passers-by watching them.

Before the fence was erected, people regularly dumped glass, beer cans, cigarettes and condoms in the grounds.

Dradishaw House, on Dradishaw Road, caters for almost 100 pre-school children each week.

It has been run since 2006 by Claire Halliday with her parents Susan and Michael Halliday as partners.

The nursery last year won a Bradford Council grant to develop a play area, including a perimeter fence and canopy.

But the nursery was refused planning permission for the canopy and built the new fence last summer without applying for planning permission.

Now a retrospective application for the fence has been turned down, following objections from neighbours.

Julian Jackson, the council’s assistant director for planning, said there were two reasons for refusal.

He said: “The fence is a visually intrusive and incongruous development which is detrimental to the appearance of the site and the wider street scene on Dradishaw Road and Vale Grove.

“The fence, due to its height, position and design, limits the view of oncoming traffic from the right when exiting Vale Grove.”

But Susan Halliday said the fence did not affect drivers’ view.

Mrs Halliday said: “I would have thought that the safety of the children was more important.

“We don’t think the fence is ugly. It’s all fenced in. Nobody can watch the children.

Mrs Halliday said there had originally been a five-foot-high fence that people could see through.

She said: “Every morning we had to check the area for broken glass, cigarettes and beer cans thrown over, and sometimes used condoms.

“Since we’ve put the new fence up we’ve had nothing thrown in.”

The Hallidays plan to appeal against the council’s planning refusal.