FORMER nightclub boss Ken Duffy is poised to win the latest round of a six-year battle to save his £750,000 dream house.

Members of the New Forest National Park Authority (NPA) are being urged to approve an application to retain the large, detached property in North Drive, New Milton.

As reported in the Daily Echo, Mr Duffy has started an egg production business in a bid to comply with a key planning condition.

However, his house is likely to be given only temporary permission when NPA members meet on Tuesday.

Mr Duffy will be told to submit a further application in three years' time and if that proposal is rejected the property will have to be demolished.

The saga began in 1993, when the previous owner of the site was given consent to build a small agricultural worker's bungalow.

The applicant's egg production unit went out of business and the plot was sold to Mr Duffy, who built a four-bedroom house.

Bulldoze Six years ago, New Forest District Council told him to bulldoze the property because it was bigger than the one which had been approved and no agricultural activity was taking place on the site.

Mr Duffy lodged an appeal with government planners.

In a case which made national headlines, the appeal was upheld on the grounds that demolishing the property would leave Mr Duffy and his family homeless and thus breach their human rights.

The council successfully challenged the ruling in the High Court.

John Prescott, then Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, gave the family until January this year to comply with the original agricultural occupancy condition.

The case was subsequently transferred to the NPA, which gained its full powers two months ago.

In a report to members, planning officer Steve Avery says Mr Duffy has refurbished a poultry house on the site and has 3,675 hens.

However, Mr Avery adds that the family has not been able to prove it is operating a viable and sustainable egg production unit.

His report says: "The financial soundness of the business is questionable.

"The authority would want to be very sure that the business has a clear prospect of remaining financially sound before granting permanent planning permission."