A Selby couple have won a two-year landmark battle to watch satellite TV in their home.

Russell Ward and his partner, Denise Ballard, appealed after Selby District Council ruled their satellite dish would have to be removed.

Council planners said it spoiled the character of the listed building - even though the terraced house, in Millgate, Selby, had been renovated with new uPVC doors and windows and roof lights.

Now, two years after lodging the appeal, the couple have been told the council's proposed enforcement action has been quashed by an independent planning inspector.

But they only won their marathon appeal after their case was backed by two government departments - Margaret Beckett's Department of Environment and Tessa Jowell's Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

Council chiefs told Mr Ward, 50, that its priority was to protect a "historic environment" and they did not expect his appeal to succeed.

But Mrs Jowell ruled that the couple's 100-year-old rented home should be de-listed, as it was no longer of historic or architectural value.

Mr Ward, a self-employed frozen food merchant, said today the saga had been a complete waste of time and taxpayers' money.

He said the dish was almost hidden from view behind a chimney stack.

"I love my Sky sport programmes and if we had lost the appeal we would have moved," he said. "They were taking away our pleasure."

Miss Ballard said: "ITV digital has gone bust and there are no cable channels in Selby, so we didn't have any choice.

"You have to move with the times, but the council was stuck in the past."

The house is owned by Geoffrey and Caroline Hodge, of Leeds Road, Selby.

Mrs Hodge said: "It's ridiculous - they were derelict buildings which we renovated 15 years ago. You would have to stand on stilts at the other side of the road to see the dish."

A council spokesman said they considered the dish "cluttered" the house's appearance.

Updated: 14:51 Tuesday, October 15, 2002