SOUTH Dorset MP Jim Knight today praised Government policy that he believes will see an end to a £1,000 planning tax.

Purbeck District Council currently imposes a £1,000 transport infrastructure charge when an extra bedroom is added to a property.

But Mr Knight said housing ministers have clarified that changes to planning regulations should see an end to the charge.

Housing Minister Iain Wright said powers to levy an “across-the-board planning charge will not be possible, as most extensions will no longer require planning permission.”

Since the start of October extensions of up to two storeys that extend no more than 10ft from the back of an existing property no longer need planning permission.

Mr Knight said: “I welcome the Government’s new planning policy which should mark the end of Purbeck District Council’s hugely unpopular bedroom tax.”