A couple have transformed a German minesweeper into their dream retirement home - but they could be left high and dry by planning chiefs.

Fred and Polly Cole cruised into Shoreham harbour before being given the final all-clear from council bosses.

The couple spent six months renovating the 40-year-old Frische after their houseboat Lunasea sank in January.

Adur District Council agreed to back their plan on condition they removed the former torpedo boat's wreckage and moved another tugboat, Bridget, from the mudflats.

The Coles and their three sons cleared the debris but confusion surrounding the Bridget's sale meant she had not been shifted before the Fische arrived.

Now both boats are sitting side by side, technically in breach of the agreement.

Mrs Cole, 49, a booking office assistant at The Dome, Brighton, said the family had been squeezing into a neighbouring family's houseboat for six months.

She said: "We were going to bring Fische in when the tide was right in April but had to call it off because the wind was too strong. If we had not done it when we did, we would have had to wait until the start of September.

"We have sold Bridget to a new owner who intends to remove her as soon as he is able."

The couple borrowed £800 from a friend to buy the 150ft Schutze-class minesweeper, and it cost a further £10,000 to insure and tow it from Southampton to Shoreham.

They plan to convert the front of the vessel into a flat for their sons and will make their own home at the back.

They are considering turning the large space in the middle into a public performance area and function room which may become a future venue for Adur Festival events.

The Coles plan to restore the outside, fitting anti-aircraft guns and painting the hull in its original camouflage colours.

An Adur Council spokeswoman said: "The boat has been brought in ahead of planning permission being granted, even though approval was being recommended.

"Technically, the applicants are in breach of the conditions of that approval and it is now up to the planning committee to decide what should be done next when it meets on Monday."