SECURITY is to be stepped up in the Reybridge family home of the Duchess of Cornwall.

Plans have been submitted to North Wiltshire District Council for a new police control facility and improvements to the driveway for better access to Ray Mill House.

The bulk of the work will be paid for by the Home Office but it has not been confirmed how much the work will cost. Gemma Smith, a spokesman from Clarence House, said the new measures would replace the temporary facilities put into place when the Duchess married Prince Charles in April 2005.

She said: "The plans need to be considered in the normal way. The application is for a police control facility to be built to replace a temporary structure. "At the same time the driveway is being re-routed for easier police access."

For security reasons she was unable to say exactly what would make up the control facility.

Ms Smith said: "This sort of thing is in place in the homes of most members of the royal family.

"Ray Mill is the Duchess's family home and she continues to spend some time there privately with her children." Christopher Doel, chairman of Lacock Parish Council, said he and other council members had seen the original plans for the temporary facilities, which were put into place last year, but had not seen the new ones.

"We saw the plans ages ago for the temporary facility and they were passed then," he said.

"I assume the new ones are just to protect the house from terrorists and provide shelter for any police presence."

A spokesman for the district council was unable to comment on the plans but said they would be dealt with in the normal way, probably through the planning committee. The Duchess of Cornwall bought Ray Mill, with its 27-acre estate, for £850,000 in 1996. The home was used last month as a reception venue for the Duchess's daughter Laura Parker Bowles, who married Calvin Klein model Harry Lopes at St Cyriac's Church in Lacock.

Wiltshire Police linked with royal protection officers from Scotland Yard to provide security at the event, which was attended by Princes Charles, William and Harry. It is believed the house will be passed on to the Duchess's son, Tom Parker Bowles.