Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness wins fight with furious neighbour over 'ridiculous' plans to build a luxury house in garden of his £3m seaside mansion overlooking millionaires's playground of Poole harbour

Sky Sports football pundit Graeme Souness has won the latest round of his battle to build a luxury house in the garden of his £3million seaside mansion.

The former Liverpool and Rangers star was given the go-ahead by planners two years ago to build the separate home, despite objections from his next door neighbour.

The three-bedroom house will include a gym, steam room, plunge pool and double garage, and will overlook the millionaire's playground of Poole Harbour, Dorset.

The Sky Sports pundit found himself in hot water with his neighbour once again when he submitted a new application to amend plans for his building project.

Souness, 68, applied to change the pitch of the roof and the position of a staircase.

Sky Sports football pundit Graeme Souness has won the latest round of his battle to build a luxury house in the garden of his £3million seaside mansion

Souness was given the go-ahead by planners two years ago to build the separate home in the garden of his mansion in Poole, Dorset, despite objections from his neighbour

He also asked to add a door to the plant room, a new pedestrian gate, two new windows in the laundry room, one in the gym and two in the changing room.

His planning agent Chris Bedekovic described the changes as 'minor in nature' in a letter to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council.

But the proposed changes upset the former Scotland captain's next door neighbour Paul Barrett who fired off a new letter of objection to the council.

Mr Barrett, 75, a retired builders' merchant, wrote: 'I strongly object to this new application. The additional windows will affect my privacy.

'The overbearing aspect of this property is already unacceptable and ridiculous from original concept. These new proposals will make a bad situation even worse. Please refuse this application.'

But his pleas fell on deaf ears as council planning officials, using delegated powers, ruled the revised scheme was 'on-side' and gave planning consent.

But Souness, 68, found himself in hot water with his neighbour again when he submitted a new application to amend plans for his project, applying to change the pitch of the roof

He also applied to add a door to the plant room, a new pedestrian gate, two new windows in the laundry room, one in the gym and two in the changing room (ground floor plans pictured)

The three-bedroom house will include a gym, steam room, plunge pool and double garage, and will overlook the millionaire's playground of Poole Harbour, Dorset

Mr Barrett had also 'strongly objected' to the original planning application for the house.

He stated in his letter: 'My privacy will be seriously undermined. This development will seriously detract from the street appearance.

'As I am living adjacent to this proposed development I have not been given fair consideration about its effect on me.'

Agents acting for Souness had said in a design statement that the new house had been designed in a way that would not reduce the privacy of neighbouring homes.

The new home on a triangular plot is likely to net a cash windfall for the former player if he decides to sell it.

A number of homes in his neighbourhood near the exclusive Sandbanks peninsular have had parts of their large gardens sold off for building new luxury houses in recent years.

The proposed development in the southern part of Souness' garden will involve demolishing two garages and a wood store to make way for the new house with a detached garage

Under the plan, he will also get a new garage to the north of his home.

Existing trees will also be retained to 'obstruct' views of Mr Barrett's house, and a 6ft wall will be built to prevent another neighbour's home from being overlooked.

But the proposed changes (pictured: block plans) upset his neighbour Paul Barrett who fired off a letter of objection to the council but planning officials gave consent for the changes

Souness's planning agent Chris Bedekovic described the changes (pictured: basement plans) as 'minor in nature' in a letter to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council

The Sky Sports pundit's next door neighbour Mr Barrett had also 'strongly objected' to the original planning application for the house

Planning officer Kate Robson said in her report: 'The character of the area is residential, predominantly large detached houses on large plots.

'There is a process of renewal and development ongoing in the area as many of the older houses are replaced by larger and more houses.

'The principle of the additional building remains acceptable and only the impact of these changes needs to be assessed. 

'The proposed alterations do not have a material impact on the overall appearance of the dwelling and the plot.

'The proposal will preserve the character and appearance of the area. The additional windows and doors are to the basement level and will not adversely affect neighbouring privacy. 

'The other alterations will not have a detrimental impact on neighbour amenity.'

The area around Poole has become a popular retreat for former football managers including Harry Redknapp and Tony Pulis.