A VINTAGE car collector from Mathon is appealing to planners to let him keep the garages he built without permission.

Builder Ted Dawe, of Gower Cottage, Rundle-mead, said he had to have security for his 1923 Model T Ford lorry and two 1928 Austin 12s, a saloon and a tourer.

A member of the Malvern and Worcester Vintage Car Group, he has owned the vehicles for 12 to 14 years and says they are used most days.

Mr Dawe has applied to Herefordshire Council for retrospective planning permission for a set of four garages, in which he stores the vintage vehicles and a builder's van.

He has also asked for approval of amendments to an office, store and toilet.

Mr Dawe has also applied for a Certificate of Lawfulness for the use of his premises as a builder's yard, which he says he has been doing for more than 10 years.

He previously applied to the old Malvern Hills District Council for permission to build a garage for his vintage vehicles, but was turned down.

In a separate application, he did receive permission for an office, store and toilet, but has not adhered to the original plan.

He says he needed to store the vintage vehicles in a secure garage for insurance purposes.

"The garages are on land at the back of my house. It's off the beaten track and hidden behind a hedge. They can't be seen from the hills," he said.

Mathon parish chairman Cecil Freeman said a planning meeting would be called to discuss the applications before next Tuesday's Annual Meeting of the Council.