A FAMILY of eight will have to squeeze into a three-bedroomed terraced house after councillors turned down their plea for permission to build an extension.

Peter Ellison, 44, wife Tracie, 32, and children Rebecca, 15, Kirsty, 14, James, seven, and Adam, four, live in the gable-end house in Celia Street, Burnley.

But after the "big surprise" that Tracie was pregnant with twins, which are due in May, the family applied for permission to build a £16,000 one-bedroom extension over the kitchen.

They got the backing of their councillor and letters of support from other families in the street.

But Burnley Council refused the application, saying it would have been "overbearing" for neighbouring properties.

Mr Ellison has criticised the council and is now appealing.

He said the family could not afford to move and the extension to his house of 21 years was the only option they could afford.

Mr Ellison said: "We need the space or we will be taking it in shifts to use a bedroom when the babies are born because there just won't be enough room for everyone to sleep.

"We'll have eight people in three bedrooms when they arrive and it's disgusting that the council is denying us the room for them - they shouldn't be able to treat us like that.

"They keep going on about regenerating terraced houses but they won't let you when you want to do it with your own money.

"I have worked all my life to look after my children and they are just giving me no support at all."

He said the council had said it would agree to a smaller, sloped-roofed extension, but Mr Ellison said this was not viable because it would mean the bedroom would only be 9ft square, and would have to eat into his and Tracie's room.

Rosehill and Burnley Wood's Coun Jeff Sumner said he was supporting Mr and Mrs Ellison.

He said: "The guidelines are just that - guides. Surely people should look at things on their own merits and see that this is a fair application.

"I don't want them or their babies to be put through any more and if they are not allowed the new room it will be like they are living in the 1900s with everyone sleeping top-to-tail."

Sue Graham, Burnley Council's head of planning and environment, said the decision to refuse was correct.

She added: "An application relates to the property concerned, not the personal circumstances of the occupant.

"The extension size of was unacceptable and would have been overbearing for neighbouring properties."