Tear down this wall! Property developer faces council probe after erecting section of the Berlin Wall in his garden without planning permission

A contractor covering part of the Berlin Wall triggered a new Cold War after a neighbor’s complaint – this time in Britain’s capital, not Germany’s.

Steve Thorpe, 65, bought part of the historic structure and brought it back more than 650 miles to his home in Dulwich, south-east London.

He installed the 3.1 meter slab at the back of his garden, but a neighbor has since complained to Southwark Council, saying he did not have planning permission for the piece of concrete separating East and West Germany.

The local government has now launched an investigation into whether the wall seen from the front door can remain.

Mr Thorpe tracked down the towering pile of masonry after learning that a grain farmer had used hundreds of sections of the wall to line his sheds.

Mr Thorpe flew to Germany with a friend to shop at the Berlin Wall and decided to buy a piece of history.

‘They wouldn’t sell me the original piece I wanted because it would go to the exhibition at the Brandenburg Gate,’ he said.

Instead, Mr. Thorpe found another piece of graffiti-covered wall that caught his eye and settled on that.

Mr Thorpe, pictured with his section of the wall, may be forced to remove it unless retrospective planning permission is granted

He transplanted the segment to his home in Dulwich, south-east London.

Shopping was an easy task as he had to transport the heavy wall back to England and install it in his garden.

He said: ‘It took a lot of wrangling to get him here. We had to get an export license, an import license, but we got it.

‘We also had to build a carrier to get it down because it was so heavy and we had to use a lot of machinery and cranes to get it through the garden.’

A wall was successfully installed in his home after battling ‘terrible’ January weather.

But for Mr. Thorpe, it’s much more than a garden decoration; ‘it’s a really important piece of history,’ and he adds: ‘probably the biggest thing that’s happened in my lifetime.’

Mr Thorpe feels his connections with the wall date back to the Cold War era, when he visited Germany with the Clifton Rugby club and played against the British Army.

However, this segment did not go well with everyone around; a neighbor formally complained to Southwark Council that Mr Thorpe needed planning permission to build the wall.

Mr Thorpe told the Daily Mail: ‘Just as we finished hanging it a neighbor asked: “What is this?” he asked.

The section is currently at the center of a planning dispute involving Southwark Council

Mr Thorpe said of the structure: ‘We had to build a carrier to lower it because it was so heavy and we had to use a lot of machinery and cranes to get it through the garden.’

Mr Thorpe feels his connections with the wall date back to the Cold War, when he visited Germany with the Clifton Rugby club and played against the British Army.

The Berlin Wall near the Brandenburg gate, built in August 1961

‘I explained that it was part of the Berlin Wall and he said, ‘You had to ask my permission for that.’ I didn’t think I needed it.”

He has applied for retrospective planning permission through Dulwich Estates in the hope that the wall will not be demolished a second time and will be allowed to remain.

He said: ‘Whether they’ll let me or not, I’m not sure what I’ll do if they don’t.’

‘It would be a crime to destroy it. It costs a lot to transport it; It would cost a fortune to get it in.’

Mr Thorpe said children from neighborhoods in south London came to see the wall and he even had a leaflet printed with information about the wall.

Steve said: “Most of my neighbors seem to be very supportive of it. The most historically significant event in my life, in our lives, was the wall coming down. It’s huge.”

A Southwark Council spokesman said: ‘We have received a planning complaint about a section of wall being built in Dulwich.

‘We will investigate the complaint and take appropriate action in line with national planning processes.’

The Berlin Wall, also known as the Iron Curtain, was a 155 km (96 mi) barrier built by East Germany in August 1961 to prevent its citizens from escaping to the West.

This continued until November 1989, when a new travel law was mistakenly announced, as crowds flocked to the border.

The wall opened under the attack of many people and eventually collapsed, paving the way for Germany’s reunification the following year.

Mr. Thorpe’s neighbor, who made the complaint, has been reached for comment.