AN ELDERLY couple are living in fear of losing their luxury dream retirement home after a council lost the plot - literally.

The nightmare saga for Paul and Evelyn Pontin began when property developer Harry Palmer sold them a £300,000 house - identified as Plot 55 on the plan - on Green Belt land he did not own.

When the pensioners tried to register the house in Portmore Close, Broadstone with the Land Registry, they learned to their horror that they could not because it had been built illegally on an area of Delph Woods owned by Poole council.

Yet the council's own planners had granted the developer planning permission and the Pontins bought the L-shaped, detached property in good faith.

Poole council has now launched an investigation into the bizarre background which led to the potentially life-wrecking errors.

The couple, who have been living in the house for several months, are begging the council to "legalise" their ownership and to sell the land retrospectively to Broadstone-based Harry Palmer, making him pay the market price, but not to penalise them. They also stress that only a portion of their property trespasses on council land.

Deputy council leader Cllr Bob Williams, who represents Broadstone, said: "This has the potential to become a cause celebre. There's so much baggage to this issue and it's difficult to understand without a full inquiry. Anxiety is already spreading through the wider community. This is very, very sensitive indeed."

A spokesman for the builders has claimed that the mistake was an accidental one, caused by the erection of a boundary fence in the wrong place, it was reported at a meeting of Poole council's executive.

Cllr Tony Woodcock said: "The owners must be feeling very insecure and wondering what the future holds for them."

And Cllr Jane James pleaded for the security of the elderly couple, saying: "We don't want to turn out these poor people and knock down their home."

While acknowledging the "embarrassment" to the council, she believed that the developer's "hands aren't totally clean".

The executive has published comments from Portmore Close residents.

Prof Owen Jones felt the error had allowed the developer to build a larger property and to "squeeze" in more houses, but he does not want the Pontins "inconvenienced".

But another resident, Brian Lloyd "does not accept that the encroachment was accidental". And if the Pontins' home is eventually "legalised", he wants the developer's profits, which he estimates at £300,000, to be paid to the council for the benefit of Broadstone.

The executive decided to refer the matter to the scrutiny committee for a full inquiry before a final recommendation was made.

A spokesman for Broadstone Residents' Association said: "Perhaps we're looking for conspiracy theories where they don't exist. However, it does seem astonishing that it could get so far without being picked up. Planning say they only make decisions on suitability, not on the legality of location, which seems a handy get-out."