A homeowner blasted for tarmacking his whole garden and back yard has hit back at his ‘jealous’ critics.
Retired steel worker Terence Sullivan, 57, has paved all three sides of his home in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, at a cost of £24,000.
But his three-bed home has been savaged online as an ‘eyesore’ and others have claimed the house in a small cul-de-sac has been ‘ruined’ after seeing it on a Rightmove advert for sale at a price of £230,000.
One critics claimed it looked ‘ugly’ like a ‘pub car park’ but the father-of-five has hit back at his detractors.
Standing in his driveway, he told : ‘I’m shocked at all the criticism. Don’t people have better things to do?
‘I think, they’re just jealous and I don’t think my neighbours have a problem with it.’
He added: ‘It looks a lot nicer than it was.
‘We did have a garden but we have five children and used to have dogs so it could be a bit of a mess at times.
‘We wanted a low maintenance garden so we went with this.
‘Now I can drive my car on it and I have a caravan here too.
‘It’s a great place now and looks all neat and tidy.
‘I think people are just jealous.
‘I love it myself – it’s a great place to have the family all together. And it looks great inside too – the kitchen is fabulous.
‘But it’s time to move on, and get a bigger place. We are thinking of moving to Ireland to get a bigger house.
‘You can get a lot more for your money there.’
His wife Gillian, 47, added: ‘I can’t believe all the mess about our garden.
‘We think it looks great but now I’m worried it could affect us selling it.’
The couple were backed up by many of their neighbours.
One long-term resident, who did not wish to give is name, said: ‘It looks a lot better than it did.
‘He used to have lots of window panes in there which I think he got from working on the new set of Coronation Street.
‘It was full of stuff. Now it looks a lot neater.’
The family’s paved garden is not visible from the road.
But one said: ‘It does look a bit of an eyesore.
‘I wouldn’t have chosen to do it myself.
‘I like a bit of greenery.’
Dog walker Emma Hughes, 31, said: ‘I saw the advert and thought it looked pretty ugly.
‘He’s destroyed his garden.
‘It looks like a pub car park. Mind you I guess, it’s pretty easy to keep tidy.
‘I’m sure someone would eally like to nuy it, just not me.’