Andy Murray wins battle to build pool and gym at new home

SIR Andy Murray has won a battle to build a new multi-million pound mansion with a swimming pool and gym.

Andy Murray will knock down the existing property in Surrey. Picture: PA

The tennis ace plans to demolish a property he bought for nearly £3 million and construct a new home in its place.

However, Andy Murray's project hit a snag when permission for separate outbuildings housing a pool and gymnasium were refused by council planners because they were too big and did not fit in with the surrounding area.

The house is in Leatherhead, Surrey, just a few miles from 30-year-old Murray's current £5 million home in Oxshott which he shares with wife Kim and their two young daughters.

The double Wimbledon champion's house plans have now been given the go-ahead after his architects submitted revised plans for the leisure facilities which means they will be smaller than originally planned.

"This application follows on from two separate applications for the outbuildings that were refused.

"The agent has addressed the height issues by setting the building more within the slope of the land which allows for the height to be taken from the highest part of the surface of the ground next to it."

The proposals show the swimming pool building, which must not exceed four metres in height, will also include a massage room, changing facilities and a sauna while the gym will have a summer house attached to it.

The pool and gym could be used to help Murray's rehabilitation from injury. He is currently recovering from hip surgery in Australia and is not expected to be back on the tennis court until the summer's grass court season.

He and wife Kim bought the house, which has a tennis court in its 28 acres of grounds, in November, 2016. They initially built an extension before deciding to demolish it and build their own bespoke home in its place.

Plans show the new house will be a two-storey home with five en-suite bathrooms on the first floor and a library and a study on the ground floor. It will also have a large dining room, a larder and a snug room.

Murray's architects said the existing house was "of no particular historic or architectural merit" and would be replaced by an "attractively designed property".

Planners granted planning permission and said: "The design of the property would be one of a Georgian appearance with narrow long windows and stone detailing.

"The position of the new property would be close to the existing and therefore the spacious nature of the site would be maintained.

"It is considered that the design of the building and its position within the plot would not cause harm to the character of the area."

In an interview last year, Murray said he intended to spend more time in Scotland when he retired from tennis but would remain living in the south of England as long as his family were happy there.