James Corden has reportedly been ordered to rip up the front garden of his £11.5 million north-west London home.
The comedian bought the four-storey house in the affluent neighbourhood of Belsize Park near Hampstead last year and lives there with his wife Julia Carey and their children Max, Carey, and Charlotte.
He has been accused of paving over the front garden of the mansion so he has more room to “park wheelie bins”.
The Gavin and Stacey star, 47, demolished a large planting bed in the strict conservation area, angering resident groups and local councillors.
Neighbours claimed the work was “unsightly” and “detrimental to the character and appearance” of the area, according to the Daily Mail.
The former chat show host installed the new gravel look and submitted a retrospective planning application in September, describing it as “minor landscaping works to the front garden to repair existing paving slabs”.
Corden said the project was aimed to increase the area of hard surface for storage of bins, pointing out the paving slabs were repurposed from the back garden of the property.
Critics claimed the work is contributing to reduced biodiversity and loss of green space as an 11 square metre planting bed was demolished.
In a bid to compensate, Corden has planted four new trees and a mix of plants, but even this has riled the local residents’ association, which states that the trees are too close together and have little chance of surviving.
Lib Dem councillor Tom Simon said: “There is no valid justification for the loss of green space in this instance, so the application should be resisted.”
Camden Council has reportedly sided with the complaints and ordered Corden to dig it all up by January 6 or face legal action of a formal enforcement notice.
Officials ordered the comic to “completely remove the area of hard landscaping” and “make good any resulting damage”, per The Mail.
The Standard has contacted Corden’s representative for comment.
Corden also faced opposition from neighbours earlier this year with his plans for an extension with a gym, office, den, spa and shower room.
His vision didn’t go down well with locals and he received 18 letters of objection from neighbours, according to the Sun.
One resident complained about loud drums being played alongside concerns that the proposed structural changes would be oversized.
They noted: “One of them plays the drums, which can often be heard on my terrace and occasionally inside my flat even with the windows closed.
“What happens if they decide to move the drum kit out of the house and put it in the den?”
It was determined that Corden’s application had satisfied requirements and the council dismissed any noise complaints.
The planning officer did, however, stipulate that Corden’s construction team should be mindful not to damage any nearby trees and that it can't be used as a “granny flat”.
Corden and his wife Carey relocated to the UK in 2023 after eight years of living in the US while he hosted the late night talk show, The Late Late Show.
He opened up earlier this year about his decision to return home, admitting it had been “a real challenge”.
“It's been brilliant, and hard, and overwhelming. I think moving house is hard enough, moving children, moving schools - picking it up and going so far, from everything they knew from life in - it's been a real challenge,” he said on the Today Show.
“It's been tough. But at the same time, immensely rewarding. But my son was 3 when we moved [to America], my daughter was 12 weeks.
“When we left, he was 12, my daughter was eight, and our younger daughter - who is an American, and we treat her as such...”
He continued: “No, really for us, it was the notion that it was time. We wanted them to know their grandparents.
“And with my son finishing 6th grade, it was just an absolute pull to go home, and root that period of their lives in — we wanted them to know Britain, and their extended family.”
