Manchester United goalkeeper Sergio Romero ‘ordered to tear down £20,000 ‘theme park’ adventure playground in his garden after neighbours complained’
- Sergio Romero has been told to take down a huge playground in his garden
- The Man United star put the play area in place without council permission
- Following neighbours’ complaints, the council ordered him to take it down
- The 33-year-old has been in Argentina during the coronavirus lockdown
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Sergio Romero has been told to take down an adventure playground in his front garden worth a reported £20,000 as disgruntled neighbours compared it to a ‘theme park’.
The Manchester United and Argentina goalkeeper installed the play area for his daughters Chloe and Yazmin alongside wife Eliana, having failed to obtain planning permission to do so.
The playground contains a 14ft-high penthouse den, a 10ft slide, a 12ft-high castle as well as a clubhouse at the property in Wilmslow, Cheshire.
The addition to the multi-million pound home has stirred grumblings among the 33-year-old’s neighbours, as the United star only applied for planning permission after installing the huge play area.
Sergio Romero has been told to take down an adventure playground (pictured) in his front garden worth a reported £20,000 as disgruntled neighbours compared it to a ‘theme park’
The playground contains a 14ft-high penthouse den, a 10ft slide, a 12ft-high castle as well as a clubhouse at the property in Wilmslow, Cheshire
One neighbour said: ‘This enormous installation is more suited to a commercial theme park than a quiet residential road.’
Another said: ‘Usually such a structure would be expected to be positioned in the back garden.’
A third neighbour suggested the size of the playground would be ‘a serious distraction to passing motorists.’
East Cheshire Council refused the family’s retrospective planning application last month as the structure ’causes harm to the street scene and the character of the neighbourhood.’
‘This is due to the play structure’s height, volume and position ahead of the house and near to the front boundary of the property,’ it added.
The Double Whammy playhouse was installed a year ago at the family’s £2.8million mansion, which is a few doors down from former manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s home, the Sun reported.
Following an inspection from the council, Romero was ordered to take down the structure, with the body finding that the play area affected ‘the street scene and the wider neighbourhood’.
The addition to the multi-million pound home has stirred grumblings among the 33-year-old’s neighbours
The Manchester United and Argentina goalkeeper installed the play area for his two daughters alongside wife Eliana (pictured together), having failed to obtain planning permission to do so
Romero and wife Eliana set up the playground for their two young daughters in Manchester
Romero has been back in Argentina during the coronavirus lockdown, having stayed in a Buenos Aires hotel for two weeks in order to follow strict quarantine measures.
‘I stayed in a hotel for two weeks after they did the test in my nose and my mouth and I waited three more days in the hotel and, after the result is negative, I came to my house with my family,’ the goalkeeper said last month.
‘The most important thing is to stay at home, stay safe, do the little things for the family, like just going to the supermarket, to the pharmacy.
‘Don’t move from the house. This is the most important thing,’ he added.
