A tiny wooden house dubbed the 'narrowest in London' is set to be torn down after its owner lost a legal challenge.

Building work on the unusual property in Manor Road, Leyton, began in May last year.

Neighbours told the Guardian at the time they were ‘very concerned’ for the safety of people living in the home.

Waltham Forest Council soon ordered the building work to stop on site, which used to be a garage, as planning permission had not been granted.

The authority later ordered the structure to be teared down, but the owner, a Mr Akhlaq of Zim Properties, in High Road, Leyton, appealed against the decision and the matter was handed to the Planning Inspectorate.

But the appeal was dismissed and the owner, named as Mr  has been given three months to tear it down or face further action.

Planning Inspector Ian Currie ordered Zim Properties to pay the council's legal costs after deciding the appeal was unreasonable.

In his ruling, he said: "I do not consider that the structure erected alongside 105 Manor Road is of a high standard of design, as required by Policy DM30.

"It is much narrower than the terrace houses it adjoins, giving it a pinched appearance, it finished in wood rather than brick and it has flat roof, unlike its neighbours with their pitched roofs.

"Overall, it looks singularly out of place, in an area that has maintained its late nineteenth/early twentieth century character remarkably intact, and I conclude that the design of the structure is wholly unsatisfactory."