A Bentley-driving company boss has failed in his bid to remove a blue plaque commemorating his £3million home’s link to one of the founders of Rolls-Royce.

Car dealer Reginald Rix, 67, father of leading fashion designer Henrietta Rix, bought motoring pioneer Sir Henry Royce’s listed historic former home in an exclusive enclave of Cheshire last year.

In 2022 his daughter, co-founder of cult fashion label Rixo, which is adored by stars including Kylie Minogue and Margot Robbie, told Vogue magazine of her pride at being driven to her wedding in her father’s vintage 1960s Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud.

Yet despite Mr Rix’s apparent fondness for the world-famous luxury car brand, he and his wife sought listed building consent to take down a plaque from a gate pillar at the front of Brae Cottage which states: ‘F. Henry Royce co-founder of Rolls-Royce motor cars lived here 1898-1908.’

However, the application was rejected after Knutsford town council said it ‘strongly objected’ on the grounds that it represented a ‘landmark’ piece of local heritage.

The house was constructed in 1898 after Sir Henry commissioned Gothic revival architects including Alfred Waterhouse, who designed Balliol College, Oxford and Manchester Town Hall.

While living there, the engineer reputedly ‘tinkered’ with his inventions in the cellar – a precursor to his successful partnership with Charles Rolls who he met at the Midland Hotel in Manchester in 1904.

The commemorative plaque – one of five marking key points in the Cheshire market town’s history – was installed after listed building consent was given in 2016.

The plaque outside Reginald Rix’s £3million Cheshire home has marked the link to Rolls-Royce’s co-founder since 2016

Motoring pioneer Sir Henry reputedly ‘tinkered’ with his inventions in the cellar before his historic meeting with Charles Rolls in 1904

Reginald Rix (pictured) bought the house after founding a successful car dealership

The house, situated in a conservation area, is now owned by Mr Rix – who founded Warrington-based Rix Motor Group in 1996 – and his wife Jane.

While their application does not give their reasons for wanting the plaque removed, in the past it has attracted fans of the marque to the quiet millionaires’ row.

Interest culminated around the centenary of the brand in 2004 when a procession of Rolls-Royces drew film crews from around the world to the property.

Applying for consent to remove the plaque, Daniel Waugh, of Dickinson Waugh Architecture, wrote that unscrewing it from the wall ‘will not result in any harm to the building or its significance and will have no impact on the character and appearance of the conservation area’.

The mortar would then be repaired and the plaque handed back to the local council.

However, in a formal objection, Knutsford town council wrote that it ‘STRONGLY OBJECTS to the removal of the Blue Plaque on the grounds that whilst the listed building is a dwelling, it [is] also a heritage asset that forms part of the history of Knutsford, highlighting a person of national significance and therefore should be protected as a landmark of Knutsford Heritage’.

In refusing consent, Cheshire East council said: ‘The proposed removal would result in harm to the significance of the property and would undo a positive enhancement undertaken through its previous installation.

‘There is no convincing justification as to why the plaque should be removed in order to outweigh the identified harm of its removal.’

The couple have six months to appeal against the planning department’s decision.

Mr and Mrs Rix were approached for comment.