Rudolph Walker, AKA EastEnders’ Patrick Trueman, made an appearance as the council rejected an ‘overbearing’ two-storey extension proposal in west Reading.

The application at 10 Pegs Green Close, off Tilehurst Road, was rejected by councillors who described the plans as “overbearing” and”over the top”.

Labour councillor Jo Lovelock, former leader of Reading Borough Council (RBC), urged councillors to reject the application.

She called the two-storey extension ”over the top” and “like building another house around the house that exists”.

Cllr Lovelock added: “It is a shame that there has not been a compromise”.

The application was brought before the council’s Planning Applications committee on Wednesday (July 17) after Cllr Lovelock called in the application due to ‘amenity concerns’ raised by residents.

Mr Walker, who plays Patrick Trueman in BBC soap opera EastEnders, said his interest in attending the meeting was for the 10 Pegs Green Close application but he did not wish to comment.

One neighbour called the plan ‘overpowering and intimidating’ while another said it would impact on their privacy and lose a driveway parking space.

Homeowner Aishah Akhtar said she was looking to develop 10 Pegs Green Close into a  ‘dream home’ for her family.

She said the application was nothing out of the ordinary and the neighbours had “no reasonable planning grounds” for refusal.

Council officer James Overall said the two-storey extension complies with policy.

He said: “It is a large extension but the property does have a lot of land. It is not going to eat into loads of the neighbour’s amenity space.

“You can quite clearly tell what is an extension and what is not.”

But all councillors except for Conservative councillor Paul Carnell voted to refuse the plans at 10 Pegs Green Close.

Labour councillor Karen Rowland said: “The extension should be smaller in scale than the main house.

“To me it is pretty much a doubling if not more than the house currently is. This is an overbearing idea that I do not think should be allowed to happen.”

Green councillor Josh Williams agreed.

He said: “I am concerned that if every house on the road did this it would be a very different road.”

The application was one of 10 heard by the council last week in a mammoth last session before the August recess.