AN EXASPERATED York architect has helped celebrate an unusual birthday - for a planning application he made over a year ago.

Matthew Laverack, of Laverack Associates, has sent the application a first birthday card to "to cheer it up."

He said: "I wanted to let the application know it hadn't been forgotten, at least not by me.

"I told it I hope it isn't feeling too lonely and neglected sitting in a filing cabinet month in and month out."

Mr Laverack said he has never known councillors take so long to deal with an application.

His client is seeking permission to build a roof extension and granny flat on a house in Mount Vale, near Knavesmire, in York.

He added: "I know some applications, such as for a shopping centre or a university campus, can take a long time to deal with, but this is ridiculous. My client is as confused as I am over this.

"He has spoken to the council and been told there are some objections and some problems, but not a lot more than that."

Cliff Carruthers, the council's head of development control, said the delay had been caused by problems contacting the applicant directly.

He said: "There are proposals to use the extension area as a granny flat, but the plans show it would be self-contained. There are concerns about that that we need to discuss with the applicant."

Mr Carruthers said he was amused by the birthday card.

"I haven't seen it, but the idea has raised a smile. It is certainly an unusual and interesting way of drawing attention to the issue," he added.

Updated: 11:06 Saturday, October 19, 2002