James Corden has been accused by neighbours of 'illegally' paving over the front garden of his £11.5million London mansion so that he has more room to 'park his wheelie bins'.
The comedian, 47, has been criticised by resident groups and local councillors after destroying a large planting bed in the strict conservation area of north London, at the property where he lives with his wife, Julia Carey, and their three children.
Corden had the work carried out before applying for retrospective planning permission, in which he described it as 'minor landscaping works to the front garden to repair existing paving slabs'.
He added 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.
But one neighbour pointed out that prior to the renovations, there were no paving slabs at the front as the surface had a gravel look.
Another raged: 'Is there a pressing requirement for an enlarged site for waste bins given this is a single family dwelling?'
The works have resulted in the loss of a planting bed measuring 11 square metres.
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.
Alan Selwyn, trustee of a local residents' association, complained that Corden has replaced 40 per cent of the planted area with 'impermeable concrete slabs'.
He added: 'The removal of natural habitat reduces biodiversity in an already reduced area and the use of mass-produced industrial materials is inappropriate in this heritage setting.'
Mr Selwyn claimed that two existing Acer trees will be at risk due to the impermeable nature of the concrete slabs and the four new trees 'may all fail due to overcrowding'.
Local Deborah Buzan added: 'Front gardens being paved over is bad for the environment. It is not good for wildlife in the area, and it reduces the enjoyment of residents who now look at barren areas instead of plants and London flowers.
'It's so sad seeing the disregard for conservation.'
In his planning application, Corden's team stated: 'The proposal is a householder development and results in a reduction in the existing planting bed by 11m², the retention of existing trees and the planting of 4 new trees planted with a mix of plants to enhance the soft landscaping.
'An area of approximately 18 square metres has been repaved, including a previously existing area of gravel with permeable concrete paving slabs recycled from the rear garden.'
But Corden's move enraged the council's leader of the opposition, Cllr Tom Simon, who said: 'There is no valid justification for the loss of green space in this instance, so the application should be resisted.'
David Thomas, Chair of the Bloomsbury Conservation Areas Advisory Committee, quoted strict council rules on planning permission stating that 'applications to make or enlarge a hard surface in your front garden are unlikely to be granted permission'.
And one local complained that Corden's claim of replacing damaged paving slabs is false as there were none in the front garden originally.
They said: 'If all the houses in the Belsize Conservation Area decided to pave over 11 square metres of existing flowerbeds in their front gardens there would be a very serious negative impact on the character and appearance.
'The application says the works were done primarily to repair existing paving slabs. However, there were no existing paving slabs as the surface was a gravel look surface.
'The application says the increased hard surface is for the storage of bins. However, this is a large house with a front drive the full width of the plot so there is plenty of space that is already hard covered for bin storage.
'There can be no doubt from looking at the photos that these works have negatively impacted the character and appearance of the Belsize Conservation Area.'
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