Sir Cliff Richard has been ordered to demolish his £30,000 conservatory after planners said it was too big and was put up without planning permission.

The 68-year-old singer could face legal action if he fails to comply with the enforcement notice issued by Runnymede Borough Council. The17ft by 13ft structure at was put up three years ago at his £1.3 million mansion in Virginia Water, Surrey.

The decision was made after a property agent working for Sir Cliff — who has sold more than 260 million records and has a £40 million fortune — applied for retrospective planning permission for the Victorian-style structure.

The action was agreed during a bizarre meeting of the council’s planning committee in which one councillor, Michael Kusneraitus, dropped in no fewer than ten Sir Cliff song titles while discussing the structure.

The Tory councillor raised eyebrows when he said: “If the ’Bachelor Boy’ was successful in appealing the committee’s decision, they might all be singing ’Congratulations’.”

The committee said it was following the recommendations of its officers to pursue enforcement action after agreeing that the spread of the conservatory contravened the council’s policy on Green Belt land.

The policy says that permission should be refused when a proposal will result in a disproportionate addition over and above the size of the original building and that the cumulative floor area should not increase by more than 30 per cent.

Geoffrey Woodger, the chairman of the planning committee, explained that when Sir Cliff’s home was built in place of the original building at the site on the exclusive Wentworth Estate, it had already reached the 30 per cent floor area limit.

Representing Sir Cliff at the meeting was a property agent, Dave Farrell, who explained that when buying the conservatory, Sir Cliff had been told by the manufacturers that it didn’t require planning permission.

He added that he also felt the council’s figures for floorspace expansion were contentious — though the committee dismissed this.

Speaking after the meeting Mr Farrell said: “I haven’t managed to hear from Sir Cliff yet, but I think it is likely that he will appeal against the decision.”

Mr Woodger said: “We have to judge retrospective applications on their merits and this one was very much contrary to GB6 (the Green Belt policy). “When this building was built three or four years ago it was made quite clear that it was the maximum size it could be.”

Chris Long, the boss of Sherborne Ltd, which put up the conservatory, said the problem had arisen as Sir Cliff tried to sell the home. He said he was meeting Sir Cliff to discuss the decision.

“All the boxes were checked and ticked as far as I was concerned when we put up the conservatory in 2006. For some reason Sir Cliff had been told that he did not need planning permission and it’s the homeowner’s responsibility to check.”

He said: “The problem is that Cliff demolished the bungalow that was on the property and built his home on it and his new property is a lot bigger and this conservatory may have taken it over the edge of what the council will allow. I am sure that Cliff will win on appeal as it’s a bit of a grey area at the moment.”

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