James Corden has waded into his third spat with neighbours in eight months as local residents complain that his 32ft-high leylandii is blocking the light.
It’s a fresh headache for the TV presenter after the local council threatened legal action if he didn’t return the garden to its former state within two months.
He previously clashed with locals after he ‘illegally’ paved over the front garden of his £11.5million London mansion so that he has more room to ‘park his wheelie bins’.
This time around he’s irked neighbours, Alison and Simon Parry-Wingfield, who live at the back of his property, after he applied for planning permission to reduce three trees by one to two metres, which sit in a strict conservation area.
They say that there are ‘far more pressing issues’ – namely a 32ft high, giant leylandii hedge that has grown so much they say it is now overhanging into their garden, adding that ‘the hedge forms an oppressive wall of greenery that blocks daylight and sunlight from our garden, conservatory and rear-facing bedrooms throughout the year.’
They claim that reducing the size of other trees – the planning permission is to cut a robinia, plum and birch – will reduce a ‘screening’ between the properties and it’s the leylandii hedge which is the real problem.
Pictured: The Leylandii hedge in November 2025. Cordon has applied for planning permission to reduce three trees by one to two metres
Pictured: The Leylandii hedge in June 2024. The local council threatened legal action if the star didn’t return the garden to its former state within two months
But they claim James has snubbed personal written requests to assist with this situation, with the objection saying that ‘the owners have declined to engage directly and have referred us to their legal representatives.’
Further adding: ‘Their lawyers have indicated a willingness to reduce the hedge height but have provided no commitment regarding the extent or timing of such action.’
They have claimed that ‘nearly half of the branches’ from the trees are overhanging, but the lower branches were removed when James built a controversial gym, office, ‘den’, spa and shower room, which sparked 17 objections.
This has led to a lack of privacy for Mr and Mrs Parry-Wingfield, who say: ‘The owners constructed a large, black-coloured outbuilding in their garden.
‘In doing so, they removed lower branches from the leylandii, creating a direct view into the outbuilding through the lower 1-2 metres of the hedge above the fence.
‘We would like to plant our own hedge to screen the outbuilding, but the leylandii canopy prevents sufficient light and rainfall from reaching the ground, making this impossible.’
The letter finishes off: ‘We believe the priority should be to reduce the leylandii hedge, which causes demonstrable harm to our amenity, and to preserve the more attractive and ecologically valuable trees that provide natural screening.’
He previously clashed with locals after he ‘illegally’ paved over the front garden of his £11.5million London mansion so that he has more room to ‘park his wheelie bins’
The new row comes just days after James was denied retrospective planning permission to pave his front garden, which the council called ‘unsightly’ and ‘detrimental’ to the well-heeled London suburb.
A seven-page report by the planning officer stated that he had to ‘completely remove the area of hard landscaping’ and ‘remove any resultant materials and make good any resulting damage’ after numerous complaints.
Before that, James won his battle in April against locals to build a gym at the back of his property despite numerous complaints.
The plans were criticised for being oversized and more like a bungalow than a single-storey extension with the local residents society branding it an ‘eyesore’ while one local calling the plans ‘industrial’.
One neighbour said: ‘The scale of this building in the garden of the house sounds almost industrial. This new structure threatens not just to intrude on this peaceful green space but to constitute an eyesore from the upper windows of neighbours.’
Another raged: ‘This is a permanent structure, in the middle of a conservation area, that is bigger than the average one bed flat. Indeed, remove the word gym from the plan and replace it with bedroom and you’d have a nice little bungalow.’
One neighbour, who was supported by fellow residents, even drafted in their own arboriculturists to produce a report which blasted the plans as ‘inadequate’.
‘I don’t understand how the Council can consider this application without a far more detailed plan. This is not just a garden shed it is a 775 sq ft structure in the middle of a conservation area,’ wrote the resident.
While the local conservation group chimed in: ‘The footprint of this proposed garden room is excessive. Surely a gym and a spa, if essential, could be fitted into the house?’
James Cordon has been approached for comment.