FLAT owners and businesses in the Okehampton area, who have been told to replace their UPVC windows with timber ones setting them back thousands of pounds, have accused West Devon Borough Council of 'double standards'.

They claim they are being penalised when many other properties in the area have been allowed to keep their plastic windows.

'We put these windows in at a cost of £1,500 two and a half years ago not knowing we had to apply for planning permission,' said Colin Chadderton, who owns a flat in East Street, Okehampton.

'We applied retrospectively and were turned down because we are in a conservation area. I am angry for the simple reason that there are plastic windows all over this so-called conservation area and no-one has bothered to sort them out.'

Mr Chadderton, who said he purchased UPVC windows to shield the noise of heavy goods traffic because the vehicle weight limit on East Street had not been enforced, is due to be issued with an enforcement notice to remove the windows, but he is appealing against the decision.

He said: 'It would cost me another £2,000 to put in timber framed windows.

'I want to know who has got planning permission for UPVC windows and who hasn't in this area because it does not seem fair to crack down on some people when others can get away with it.'

Judith Haydon said the whole episode with her plastic windows had set the opening of her new business in North Tawton high street back by six to 12 months.

She had spent £5,000 on two windows and doors on her property which consisted of one shop in a terrace of shops and a flat above.

'Our application for retrospective planning permission has been turned down, but this council seems to be guilty of double standards because plenty of other buildings like this have plastic windows and they have been allowed to retain them,' she said

'I think the council's attitude is disgraceful, especially when we are trying to set up a new business and bring jobs to the area.'

Borough council planning officer John Milverton said within conservation areas windows were

important elements in the appearance of buildings and the council sought to protect the character of such areas by retaining timber windows.

He said: 'This is why applications for replacement plastic windows are invariably refused.

'We ask people who have installed them without consent to put in an application for retrospective permission, otherwise the ones who have gone through the proper process are at a disadvantage.

'Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to check on every homeowner and commercial premises and therefore only deal with the ones that come to our attention.'

Mr Milverton said to complicate the situation even further, different rules applied to single dwelling houses which were not listed where permitted development rights allowed replacement windows of a different style and appearance without the need for planning permission.

Also, no action could be taken against owners of buildings where plastic windows had been installed more than four years ago.

'In the case of flats, windows of all different materials and construction would look totally wrong so we have to exercise some control,' added Mr Milverton.

'We are also trying to protect main thoroughfares where most commercial premises are situated.'

He added that Mrs Haydon had been allowed to retain the UPVC windows to the rear of her building.

At a recent meeting of the planning committee Cllr Nick Morgan, ward member for North Tawton, appealed to the council to re-assess its policy on plastic windows in future.

Cllr Morgan said: 'There are ways and means of overcoming UPVC windows in conservation areas. There are quite adequate designs of sash windows, you can't tell the difference between them and wood these days.

'We have to move forward in time and allow UPVC windows — we can't keep going backwards.'

And planning services manager Jane Green admitted plastic windows could be installed in sensitive areas in some cases.

She said: 'I think it's fair to say that technology is moving on and there are some manufacturers that produce some very good UPVC sash windows which we would be less resistant to.'