A council has warned it may not be able to enforce some building permit breaches because it failed to act in time.

Dorset Council has 170 cases dating back at least four years that carry a “risk of immunity”, a review meeting has been told.

Eighty of these cases predate the creation of the authority in 2019, the committee was told.

Service manager Anna Lee said historical cases would be her team’s priority over the next year.

The council’s planning enforcement officers – the equivalent of 12 full-time positions – were dealing with 900 cases, the Places and Resources Review Committee heard.

Ms Lee told advisers: “There is a risk of immunity in these cases. This will not apply to all cases.

“Immunity periods for planning execution vary depending on the nature of the offense and some offenses do not benefit from an immunity period.

“But we nevertheless have an element of risk around cases that are more than four years old.”

She said she had requested additional funds to deal with the backlog.

Ms Lee said there had been two successful prosecutions since 2021, although legal action was a last resort.

Councilor Shane Bartlett, head of planning, said: “The team’s current overall workload is too high and it is important that these backlogged cases are reviewed to reduce any risk of immunity. »

Councilor David Tooke, who chairs the council’s eastern area planning committee, said the widely held view was that the council had failed to enforce the rules.

He said: “It is important that we look at the application of the rules and try to regain some confidence in the general public.

“I get people all the time who say, ‘There’s no point in enforcing the law, because all you’re doing is accepting everything they’ve done.'”