Gorilla warfare! Homeowner faces £20,000 fine if she refuses to remove 4ft-high ape statue from over her front door

Published: 09:42, 13 May 2026 | Updated: 09:54, 13 May 2026 A 'gorilla-mad' homeowner has been threatened with a £20,000 fine after she mounted a four-foot-high ape statue to the front of her house. Adele Teale, 59, was ordered to remove the 4kg resin figure from outside her two-bedroom terraced home in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The mother-of-one was first given the ultimatum by Wakefield Council last September - a year after erecting the 'beloved' statue, which she calls Caesar. Ms Teale appealed the decision but after a lengthy process council chiefs threw out her claim, giving her four weeks to get the ape gone or face a maximum £20,000 fine. However, Ms Teale has stood her ground and vowed to keep the animal - insisting he is 'doing no harm to anyone'. She said: 'He is my best friend and I don't ever plan to move him. Everybody loves Caesar, he is part of the community. 'I just don't understand what the issue is. I can't believe all of this fuss over a gorilla. 'He is nothing more than a garden ornament, and I don't agree that he needs planning permission. He is secure up there - he has been screwed and glued in place.' A 'gorilla-mad' homeowner has been threatened with a £20,000 fine after she mounted a four-foot-high ape statue to the front of her house Adele Teale, 59 was ordered to remove the 4kg resin figure from outside her two-bedroom terraced home in Wakefield, West Yorkshire Ms Teale has stood her ground and vowed to keep the animal - insisting he is 'doing no harm to anyone' According to Ms Teale, Caesar previously sat outside her home in Belle Isle, Leeds, for 15 years without issue before she sold him when she moved to Stanley in Wakefield six years ago. When she bought him back for £600 in August 2024, Ms Teale re-erected Caesar securely to a wooden plinth between the two upstairs windows of her two-bedroom terraced house four months later in December. But on May 27 2025 Ms Teale received a letter from Wakefield Council Planning Services regarding a complaint that an 'animal structure' had been built on her property. In the letter the council 'advised' she take Caesar down due to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, suggesting planning permission may have been necessary. It also instructed Ms Teale to contact the council within seven days regarding the matter so they could evaluate if she needed to submit a retrospective planning application. The mother claimed she tried to reach the council over phone on a number of occasions but 'never heard back'. An enforcement notice was handed to Ms Teale on July 10 2025 ordering her to remove Caesar - which she appealed a month later on August 11. The notice said the statue is 'not a minor decorative feature but is a prominent, eye-catching structure and is out of character with the surrounding area'. Ms Teale, who lives with husband Trevor and son, Billy, said even the binmen shout out to Caesar She said: 'He is my best friend and I don't ever plan to move him. Everybody loves Caesar, he is part of the community.' It goes on to claim it is an 'obtrusive feature on the residential street' and 'fails to respect the character and appearance of the surrounding area'. The notice also claims that as a planning application has not been submitted an assessment to determine if the benefits outweigh the harm to the greenbelt cannot be made. However, the council deems Caesar has 'caused harm to the greenbelt' and 'has made a negative effect on the areas landscape'.  Ms Teale said: 'The council says it's "structural" but he can be taken down - I could put a Christmas tree up there if I wanted. 'I own the house, it's mine, so surely I can have whatever I want outside to decorate it. 'I got him from a pet supplies store in 2005 - he just stood out to me, I just thought he was beautiful. 'I was gutted when I sold him so I called the lady who bought him back up two days later asking if I could be first in line to buy him back if she ever wanted to sell him. 'I love gorillas, I think they're amazing and Caesar makes me smile - he makes me happy.' Ms Teale has appealed the decision, but yesterday she received an email from the council saying they refused it and upheld the enforcement notice. In the notice, following a site visit on April 28, it said it was previously disputed whether the statue and wooden support structure were a development and required planning permission under the 1990 Act. But the planning officer claimed Caesar 'constitutes' a 'development' due to its 'size, degree of permanence, and physical attachment' to her property. The officer also said the statue does 'materially affect the external appearance of her house'. Based on the evidence, they added 'there is no indication that the works would have been permitted development under Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning'. The notice later concluded the statue and supporting structure require 'planning permission' and as 'no such planning permission has been obtained for the development' it constitutes a 'breach of planning control'. It also said that even if Ms Teale was willing to adjust his position or add screening it would not be 'accepted'. She now has to remove the statue by June 9, 2026 or she faces a fine. Ms Teale, who works for Leeds City Council's passenger travel, continually rejects the councils planning permission claim, saying her gorilla is just a 'garden ornament'. She also claimed to have never had any complaints when living in Leeds. The mother said: 'It was on the outside wall of my house for years and there wasn't ever any problem.' Ms Teale, who lives with husband Trevor and son, Billy, said even the binmen would shout out to Caesar. Joe Jenkinson, Wakefield Council's Service Director for Planning, Transportation and Strategic Highways, said: 'We appreciate that not everyone will agree, but under planning rules this is not classed as a minor decorative feature. 'It's also out of character with the surrounding area. So, it requires planning permission. 'The Planning Inspectorate is completely independent of the Council, and having looked at it impartially, have dismissed the owner's appeal and upheld the enforcement notice. 'This means the gorilla statue will need to be removed within four weeks.' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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