THE owners of Greenock’s ‘yellow house’ have been granted permission to repaint it white.

The Varese family had been fighting to keep the lemon zest coloured exterior of their Esplanade home for almost a year and a half after planners said it was not acceptable.

But after protracted discussions with Inverclyde Council, the family submitted a planning application in February to repaint it white - at a cost of £4,000.

Planning bosses have now formally issued permission for the work. It was in September 2014 when the Tele revealed complaints had been made after the Vareses painted their west end house bright yellow.

They hit back by saying the fresh new look had proved a hit with neighbours and tourists, but the issue was subsequently discussed at the local community council meeting.

Two months later, Inverclyde Council officials refused the Varese family retrospective planning permission for the paint job, saying the colour was not in keeping with the west end conservation area. The family’s subsequent appeal to the Local Review Body was then thrown out.

This sparked a ‘Save the Yellow House’ campaign, with people taking to social media to air their views.

A protest rally was also staged outside the property and a song was even written about the furore and watched by almost 10,000 people on YouTube. In July last year, Inverclyde Council served an enforcement notice on the Varese family, stating that unless they lodged an appeal with ministers by 3 August then they would force them to have the house returned to its original colour.

No appeal was lodged — and the eight week deadline the family was given to repaint their property expired on 28 September.

Talks then took place between the local authority and the family in a bid to thrash out a deal, culminating in the planning application.

Work on the paint job is expected to start soon.