The house was built in 1998 without planning permission

Jane Faith, Tony Wrench and Julian and Emma Orbach built the house at Brithdir Mawr near Newport in 1998 without planning permission.

Although Pembrokeshire National Park Authority ruled that they should remove the grass-roofed Lord of the Rings style house by last March, it is still standing.

The four were fined after pleading guilty before magistrates in Haverfordwest on Monday for breaching that order.

But the penalty imposed was at the lower end of the �20,000 maximum available.

Following the hearing Mr Wrench said that although the fine would be difficult to pay, they were pleased that the magistrates had appeared to listen to their arguments as the payment could have been a lot worse

And he said despite the fine they are keen to continue their fight to save the building and have no plans to pull it down at present

Sustainability

The park authority believes allowing the house to stand would set a precedent for future development, but said it would have to examine Monday's outcome before commenting.

The case was heard just two days before the authority's members are due to discuss the possibility of relaxing its policy in favour of building some environmentally-friendly homes on parkland.

Brithdir Mawr is run by a community of about 20 people aiming to promote sustainability. Many were at court to support the four accused.

Other eco-friendly homes there have been given retrospective planning permission.