Martin Dowding, from Great Yeldham, is the chairman of a committee hoping to bring the popular Men’s Shed project to the village.

Men’s Sheds have spread countrywide, as community spaces for men or even women to meet up and create.

The activities are often similar to those that take place in garden sheds, but for groups of men to enjoy together to help reduce loneliness and isolation.

Martin is looking to bring the project to Great Yeldham.

“The parish council held a community meeting and there was a group of nine of us who were interested", he said.

“We formed a committee and using an initial grant from Mind, we bought containers and put them on the recreation ground and started to convert the site.

“In November, we were greeted by a letter from enforcement officers at Braintree Council who said we needed planning permission, which none of us expected.

“We applied for permission with the parish council’s full support but in the meantime were told it shouldn’t be a problem and to carry on building because it was a great project.”

However, planning permission was refused due to the “design, appearance and impact upon the character and appearance of the area”.

Mr Dowding said: “They said there was nothing we could do to rectify the situation and the door was practically closed.

“That is when the red mist came down, we thought there must be something they can do.

“We've put 700 man hours into this, villagers donated tools, builders donated wood and now we are left with a shed we can’t use at all.

“It feels they are hiding behind this archaic structure and very indecipherable phrases which are very subjective.

"Men's Sheds are really important. There are 22 in Essex, 700 around the country but only one in the Braintree district."

Braintree Council Statement

A Braintree Council spokesperson said: “We want to support community projects and agree that the Men’s Shed project is a positive initiative with many health and social benefits.

"We have no objections to the proposed use as such, however were unable to grant planning permission as the use of storage containers in this instance contravenes national and local planning policies.

"From our assessment, the use of containers introduces an industrial character which is not in keeping with the surrounding environment and when not in use is unattractive to users of the recreational ground and footpaths.

"We were also disappointed that the application was in part retrospective and no pre-application advice was sought, and that development had been undertaken without the benefit of planning permission.

"It is important to seek advice and obtain planning permission before undertaking any form of development.

"Given the circumstances, we will be in correspondence with the applicant over the proposal.”