Homeowner faces $25,000 fine over 4-foot gorilla statue outside home

By Charlie Fenton

A defiant homeowner faces a fine of up to $25,000 if she refuses to remove a four-foot-high gorilla statue mounted on the front of her house.

Adele Teale, 59, has been ordered to remove the 9-pound resin figure from outside her two-bedroom terraced home within four weeks or face legal action and a fine.

However, the "gorilla-mad" householder has vowed not to remove the statue, which she erected in 2024 and has become a popular feature with locals.

She could be slapped with a $25,000 maximum fine if imposed by the magistrate's court or unlimited fine if imposed by the crown court, if she does not take it down, according to Brentwood Borough Council.

The mother of one was first told to remove her "beloved" gorilla — which she calls Caesar — by Wakefield Council last September because he is "out of character with the surrounding area."

Teale appealed the decision, and after a lengthy process, council chiefs threw out her claim and have given her four weeks to get the ape gone or be fined.

Though she has since vowed to keep him, claiming he is "doing no harm to no one."

Teale said: "He is my best friend and I don't ever plan to move him.

"Everybody loves Caesar, he is part of the community.

"I just don't understand what the issue is.

"I can't believe all of this fuss over a gorilla.

"He is nothing more than a garden ornament, and I don't agree that he needs planning permission.

"He is secure up there — he has been screwed and glued in place.

"The council says it's 'structural' but he can be taken down — I could put a Christmas tree up there if I wanted.

"I own the house, it's mine, so surely I can have whatever I want outside to decorate it.

"I got him from a pet supplies store in 2005 — he just stood out to me, I just thought he was beautiful.

"I was gutted when I sold him so I called the lady who bought him back up two days later asking if I could be first in line to buy him back if she ever wanted to sell him.

"I love gorillas, I think they're amazing and Caesar makes me smile — he makes me happy."

Teale said Caesar sat outside her previous home in Belle Isle, Leeds, Yorkshire, for 15 years without an issue before she sold him when she moved to Stanley, Wakefield, Yorkshire, six years ago.

When she bought him back for $750 in August 2024, Teale re-erected Caesar securely to a wooden plinth between the two upstairs windows of her two-bedroom terraced house four months later in December.

But on May 27, 2025, Teale received a letter from Wakefield Council Planning Services regarding a complaint that an "animal structure" had been built on her property.

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In the letter, the council "advised" that she take down Caesar due to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, suggesting she may have required planning permission to have built him.

It also said for Teale to contact the council within seven days regarding the matter so they could evaluate if she needed to send a retrospective planning application.

The mother said she tried to reach the council over phone on a number of occasions but claims she "never heard back."

An enforcement notice was then handed to Teale on July 10, 2025, ordering her to remove Caesar, which she appealed a month later on Aug. 11.

The notice said the statue is "not a minor decorative feature but is a prominent, eye-catching structure and is out of character with the surrounding area."

It goes on to claim it’s an "obtrusive feature on the residential street" and "fails to respect the character and appearance of the surrounding area."

It also claims that as a planning application has not been submitted, an assessment to determine if the benefits outweigh the harm to the greenbelt could not be made.

Though the council says that Caesar has "caused harm to the greenbelt" and "has made a negative effect on the areas landscape."

Teale appealed the decision, but today, May 12, she received an email from the council saying they refused it and upheld the enforcement notice.

In the decision, following a site visit on April 28, it stated it was previously disputed whether the statue and wooden support structure were a development and required planning permission under the 1990 Act.

But the planning officer claimed that Caesar "constitutes" a "development" due to its "size, degree of permanence, and physical attachment" to her property.

They also said that the statue does "materially affect the external appearance of her house."

And based on the evidence, they say "there is no indication that the works would have been permitted development under Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning."

They later conclude that the statue and supporting structure require "planning permission" and as "no such planning permission has been obtained for the development" it constitutes a "breach of planning control."

They also said that even if she was to willing to adjust his position or add screening, it would not be "accepted."

She now has to remove the statue by June 9, 2026, or she faces a fine.

Teale, who works for Leeds City Council's passenger travel, continually rejects the council's planning permission claim, saying he is just a "garden ornament."

Teale has also revealed she never had any complaints when she lived in Leeds.

The mother said: "It was on the outside wall of my house for years and there wasn't ever any problem."

Teale, who lives with husband Trevor and son Billy, said even the garbage collectors shout out to him.

Joe Jenkinson, Wakefield Council’s service director for planning, transportation and strategic highways, said: “We appreciate that not everyone will agree, but under planning rules this is not classed as a minor decorative feature.

"It’s also out of character with the surrounding area. So, it requires planning permission.

“The Planning Inspectorate is completely independent of the council, and having looked at it impartially, have dismissed the owner’s appeal and upheld the enforcement notice.

"This means the gorilla statue will need to be removed within four weeks.”