Organic farmer Toos Jeuken has built a pumpkin palace complete with double glazing, French doors and dormer windows to house her home-grown pumpkins and squash.

The Dutch-born farmer came up with the plan for the pumpkin house after her living room began to overflow with squash she was storing for the winter.

But now Toos has been told to tear her storage house down after councillors declared her crop would be 'the most cosseted pumpkins in the country'.

The mother-of-two was told she would be allowed to construct a building 'for agricultural purposes' at her farm near Cuckfield. But councillors and planning officers have refused to believe the unusual building was meant for housing pumpkins and have told her she will have to rip it down.

Toos claims if the council has its way she will go bust: "If I have to tear the pumpkin house down I will be out of business. I have spent more than £30,000 on building it. I had no idea the council would tell me to take it down."

Toos says she does not really know why the council ordered the destruction of her pumpkin house. But she believes part of the reason might be a misunderstanding of organic farming and its methods.

Mid Sussex District Council said Toos's pumpkin house is too extravagant to be merely a farm building.

A spokeswoman for the council said: "The lady originally applied to us as she wanted to erect an agricultural building to store her vegetables.

"Obviously, you are allowed to erect a building for agricultural purposes on agricultural land. But we received a number of complaints from villagers about the building. When planning officers went to visit it, it became apparent that what had been erected was in excess of our expectations."

Toos, 44, applied for planning permission retrospectively and was refused. She was later given three months to demolish the pumpkin house and appealed to the council against the decision. The final outcome on the future of her storage house and her farm is due before the end of the year.

In a heated council meeting in April, councillors said they did not believe the building had been erected for agricultural use. Cuckfield ward councillor Edward King said every aspect of the issue increased his belief that the building was not intended for agricultural purposes.

Coun Michael Gilks agreed, asking whether these would be 'the most cosseted pumpkins in the country' and speculating on whether they would enjoy the views across the Downs.

Toos admits her building is a glamorous home for pumpkins and squashes. It has dormer windows, French doors and a properly tiled roof. It is also insulated, rodent-proof and double-glazed. But she insists these features are all a necessary part of housing her organic produce.

"The Sussex county agricultural advisor Richard Wood is completely behind me. I never had any intention of using this building for anything other than storing my vegetables. It has no mains - there is no electricity supply or anything. You couldn't possibly live in it.

"Pumpkins need to be kept in conditions that are like living in a house. The ventilation is very important because in the first few weeks they give off a lot of gases and if there's not enough ventilation they would rot. Then during the winter the space has to be heated as they must be kept warm.

"Up until this year we have always kept the pumpkins in the house.

"But I have been asked by a firm in London to produce a lot of special Japanese winter squash for their chain of organic shops. There is not enough room in the house to store all the pumpkins. Last autumn, because the new store was not completed, I lost a crop worth £4,000 to the frost. I need this pumpkin house to survive."

Coun King remains unconvinced. He said: "It is unfortunate that someone who is obviously trying to provide a service by growing organic vegetables is involved with a building of this sort. It has sown seeds of suspicion among the whole community of Cuckfield."

One of Toos's neighbours on Newbury Lane, Cuckfield, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "I think she has been very cunning about the building. It doesn't look like an agricultural building to me."

But Toos says this is exactly the attitude she is battling against. She was one of the first organic farmers in the county, setting up a market gardening business in the Seventies when organic food was virtually unheard of and many organic producers were dismissed as 'cranks'.

Now organic food is sold in every supermarket and is central to many people's diets. But Toos says many people still don't understand the urge to 'go organic'.

Toos insists that organic farming is fundamentally different to non-organic farming: "This is a very specific aspect of farming and I suppose people just don't understand. I'm a farmer inside out and I like what I do very much. If they force me to tear it down I have no idea what I would do. I would be out of a home and out of a job - and farming is in my blood. It is so much more than just a job for me."