Kate Burrows and her husband Alan near Chumleigh, Devon (Picture: SWNS)

This couple will no longer be allowed to live in their Hobbit-style mud hut.

Kate Burrows, 46, and her partner Alan, 48, built the unique home because she claimed to be allergic to mains water, electricity, wi-fi and even the paint on the walls of their previous home.

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They decided life would be much better if they made a home from the earth, tree trunks and straw.

The two bedroom hut built in 2015 has solar panels on the roof for power and a water pump.


The couple shares the home in Tarka Valley, near Chumleigh, Devon, with chickens, goats and geese.

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The mud hut home of Kate Burrows (Picture: SWNS)

But North Devon Council has told them they have to leave the hut by Saturday.



It issued the enforcement notice to remove the home as it does not have planning permission.

They have offered Mrs Burrows accommodation at a Travelodge in the meantime, which she’s not happy with.

‘I cannot live in that way,’ she said.

‘I have been in one before and I could not sleep, I would be so ill in 24 hours.’

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Outside the mud hut (Picture: SWNS)

Mrs Burrows suffers Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), which causes her to get permanent flu -like symptoms in normal accommodation.

The illness causes allergic-type reactions to very low levels of chemicals in everyday products.

North Devon Council is not backing down though and rejected an appeal by the couple against the decision.

It said the they had broken planning laws by building the hut that is reminiscent of homes in the hit Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films.

The council added: ‘It is clearly not in the public interest to have houses and other structures springing up across the countryside without any permissions being obtained.’

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