Six-foot-high gates outside a home in Harrow could be removed after the council refused retrospective planning permission for their installation.

Harrow Council’s planning committee voted in favour of officers’ recommendation to deny permission for the 1.9-metre (6ft 2in) gates at Ayman Lodge, in Oxhey Lane, Pinner.

A presentation to the committee described the gates, which were put up without approval, as “incongruous” and “unsympathetic” to the area.

Officers added they were “inappropriate” for a site situated on green belt land and could be “harmful” to the rural nature of the surrounds.

Cllr Marilyn Ashton, planning spokesman for the Conservative Group in Harrow, said she “totally agreed” with the recommendation of refusal.

“You can see what’s wrong with these gates – you can’t see through them, they are a barrier and are out of character,” she explained.

However, she also said the council should be wary of issuing a “blanket ban” on largish external gates.

“We have to be careful not to get bogged down by one appeal decision in a conservation area that’s entirely different from most other houses in certain parts,” she said.

“In this day and age, for people living in rural areas, it can be a very important part of their security.”