THE owner of Lawrence of Arabia's former home in Oxford is facing war with his neighbours over a summer house built without planning permission.

Residents have accused Terrence Phillips of "desecrating" T E Lawrence's former home in Polstead Road. He is under attack for building a large wooden summer house directly in front of the bungalow where the desert hero spent much of his youth.

The bungalow was built at the end of the back garden, so the young Lawrence could study for his Oxford degree in peace. Mr Phillips has now been told to submit a backdated planning application. If that is refused, the summer house will have to be demolished.

Now neighbours are launching their own campaign. Next- door-neighbour Stephanie Wilson said: "You might imagine that this place would merit some respect. The cottage is the place where T E Lawrence worked. Putting the summer house there is a sacrilege.

"The owner put a plaque at the front of the house to say Lawrence lived there. But then he has done this at the back. We can see it from our house. It ruins the feeling and atmosphere of the place. We have already written to the council."

The Lawrences lived at the house from 1896 to 1921, with the bungalow built for T E Lawrence in 1908. Another neighbour Jane Thompson said: "It's an unlovely structure in what used to be a lovely place. It has desecrated the charm of the cottage. In any case this is a conservation area."

Mr Phillips said he intended to use the summer house for rowing and fitness equipment, and added: "The summer house is 11ft by 8ft. A council officer has been to see it and said it was all right."

He said he understood the structure did not need planning permission.

The brick and timber bungalow originally comprised a bedroom and study. Lawrence, who studied at Jesus College, lined the walls with green Bolton sheeting for sound proofing and decorated them with brass rubbings. Over the years it has become a place of pilgrimage for admirers of Lawrence, who died in a motorcycle accident in 1935. A BLOT on the Oxford landscape for more than a century is being flattened to make way for new homes.

The former gas offices off Whitehouse Road, south Oxford, loom large in views of the city's famous dreaming spires from Boar's Hill and Cumnor.

The 100 yard long building - painted terracotta and cream in 1980 in an attempt to camouflage it - has been standing empty for more than a year since British Gas relocated its regional headquarters to Reading.

Work on clearing the site started this week, with 60 two-bedroom luxury flats due to be completed by the end of this year.

A sales office for the development, which will have four blocks of three-storey flats, is opening in March.

The project will finally complete more than 15 years of redevelopment on the site of Oxford's old Victorian gasworks.

The works closed down in the 1950s and the site lay derelict for 30 years.

Since the mid 1980s most of the land - too polluted to be used for homes - has been capped over with a thick layer of clay and turned into a nature park, with sports pitches and walks linking the River Thames to Hinksey Park in south Oxford.

Useable land alongside the river has been redeveloped with a large student block for Pembroke College and city council flats.

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