THE 6ft high solid wooden fence which left a young couple feeling imprisoned in their dream home has been removed.

The barrier, wrecking their view, was put up by neighbouring farmer David Preece as part of dispute with national housing developer Persimmon Homes, who built the new estate.

On Saturday the Lancashire Telegraph highlighted the plight of newly-weds Thomas Entwistle, 27, and his wife Rebekah 24.

But today Persimmon Homes staff removed it.

Music teacher Mr Entwistle said: “We are so relieved. I can’t tell you how excited we are that the fence is down.

“Our fear now is that Mr Preece will put it back up again. We just hope it is gone for good.

“I was nervous about coming to the Lancashire Telegraph but I am so glad we did now.

“It may have saved us months of dispute.”

Married in July, the Entwistles moved into the four-bedroomed corner property on the Brook View estate off Parsonage Road, Blackburn, just before Christmas.

They went on a second honeymoon to the Caribbean earlier this month, returning to find Mr Preece, the owner of nearby Upper Mickle Hey Farm, had put up the fence 2ft from their front window while on trip back to the UK from his home in Canada.

Mr Entwistle said his wife, who was in tearful despair, had moved back to her parents’ home in Longridge.

He said the couple were ‘being held hostage in a land dispute which was nothing to do with them’.

Persimmon removed the fence after Blackburn with Darwen Council planning officials visited and told the firm it was on land they owned.

The council officials will return to the site tomorrow morning and monitor the situation as the fence was in breach of planning regulations.

A spokesman for Persimmon Homes said: “Our staff have taken down the fence after consultation with council planning officers.”

Local Roe Lee ward councillor Sylvia Liddle said: “I am delighted for this young couple who have been so distressed. I would like to thank the Lancashire Telegraph for their intervention.

“It is a victory for common sense and we now need to ensure it is a permanent solution.”

A spokeswoman for Mr Preece’s land agent Gary Hoerty Associates of Grindleton declined to comment.