Wayne and Coleen Rooney accused of building a footballers’ housing estate in dig from local parish council

WAYNE and Coleen Rooney have been accused of building a footballers’ housing estate.

The dig comes from the couple’s parish council in a five-minute film posted on YouTube.

It is the latest twist in a long-running saga over the ex-England skipper and current Derby County boss’s development of land to build a £20million family home near Knutsford, Cheshire.

Ollerton with Marthall parish council is opposing a neighbour’s bid to build a huge shed at Ryecroft Farm next to the Rooneys.

Council officials are convinced that the barn, complete with exclusive nameplate and driveway, will be transformed into a luxury home once built — and not used for sheep farming as the applicant is claiming.

During the video, the council drags the Rooneys into the row by comparing their redevelopment of Mount Pleasant Farm.

They do not refer to the couple by name but say their developers changed stables into a residence, and installed an all-weather football pitch where an equestrian centre was meant to have been built.

Referring to the neighbouring application, the council says in the film: “There has been building on this site for over ten years, with less than 45 acres of farmable land now remaining.

'A plan devised to fail'

"There is not enough land left to farm or justify barns of this size. The applicant and his family’s primary business is property development, not farming.

“This is a plan devised to fail. Once the business fails, the barn will be converted into yet another house . . . to create what has become a collection of very, very large houses.

“We, as a parish council, ask that you stand against this application to protect the green belt and prevent the conversion of this part of Cheshire into a footballers’ housing estate.”

A source told The Sun on Sunday: “This line is clearly aimed at the Rooneys.

“It seems the council have snooped on their home and land to make this video.”

The Rooneys bought their 40-acre plot for £4.3million in 2018 and built a three-storey mansion including an orangery, cinema and indoor pool.

The construction also included the fencing off and removal of over 50 acres of farmland which is now a landscaped garden.

The parish council

The parish council adds of the Rooneys’ development: “The construction also included the fencing off and removal of over 50 acres of farmland which is now a landscaped garden.”

As well as being uploaded to YouTube, the authority’s slick video was sent to Cheshire East Town Council which will rule on the planning application.

The Rooneys and the parish council were both approached for comment.