Robbie Williams' builders fined £3,000 for disturbing neighbour Jimmy Page

Property dispute: the mansion in Kensington

Pop star Robbie Williams' builders have been fined £3000 for disturbing his next door neighbour, rocker Jimmy Page, by taking apart a shed on a Sunday.

The Led Zeppelin guitarist, 73, has been locked in a bitter feud with the former Take That singer, 43, since he moved into the £17 million west London mansion.

Williams has been extensively renovating the Grade II* listed home in Holland Park, which was designed by architect Richard Norman Shaw.

But he has faced stiff opposition from Page, who objected to the work and complained about the effect on his grade 1 listed home next door.

At Westminster magistrates court today, the simmering feud took its latest twist as CC Construction Ltd, who have been carrying out the work at the house, was fined £3000 for breaking strict noise limits.

"They were taking down a shed, using power tools, when they had been told not to", said prosecutor Kirsty Panton.

Neighbours: Robbie Williams and his wife Ayda (Picture: Rex)

When planning permission was granted, Kensington and Chelsea Council restricted working hours and issued a warning that any work on a Sunday should not be audible to neighbours.

However, Mr Page lodged a complaint on September 11 last year when he heard sawing and drilling from his mansion next door.

Jeremy Asher, representing the construction firm, said the workmen had only been told to quietly take apart a shed in the garden which had already been unscrewed.

"The idea was to take the structure to the garage area and it was going to be taken apart and put on a lorry on Monday when loud works are permitted", he said.

"Unfortunately some of the builders in question decided to start dismantling it, getting saws and electric drills out."

The Wimbledon-based construction firm asked for a caution over the breach but this was rejected by the council, who insisted on a court hearing.

However, Ms Panton told the court she was "surprised" a caution had not been accepted because there had been no further complaints.

Mr Page, who bought his house in 1972, has claimed the work on Williams' house is "catastrophic", objecting to plans for excavation to create a two-storey basement which he feared would have a detrimental effect on his own home.

Williams was forced to twice withdraw his plans for the home, which he bought from late food critic Michael Winner, before finally getting them approved in 2015 to make way for renovations and remodelling over five floors.

Complaint: Former Led Zeppelin star Jimmy Page

In November last year, Williams reignited the feud when he was overheard accusing Page of being "mentally ill" and making secret recordings outside his home to check for noise levels.

Mr Asher handed a stack of glowing references for the construction firm to District Judge John Zani, including one from another neighbour who had no complaints about the building work.

"The company gives regular updates to neighbours in the neighbourhood about building work which is ongoing", he said.

"It is a big piece of construction on a private house in a very prominent location in that area."

He also presented noise level assessments of the drills used on site, adding that the generator would have only created a "low hum".

Cristiano Silvano, 47, one of the directors, was in the dock at court to represent the construction firm.

Fining the company £3000 and ordering them to pay £1500 in costs and a £170 victim surcharge, Judge Zani said: "This is a company that has operated for 20 years, there are a number of impressive references, and it's an area where I'm sure it is subject to close scrutiny by the local authority, neighbour's, and people who have an interest in what was going on.

"This was clearly more than an irritant."

In a statement issued after the sentencing, CC Construction of Alexandra Road, Wimbledon said it has "enjoyed good relations with neighbours during the 13 month project and ensured that they received regular updates on the works.

"CC Construction also sought to mitigate any potential noise issues by using some of the quietest equipment available, including an especially quiet electricity generator which was housed in an acoustically timber clad unit.

"Other mitigating steps included using tools designed to minimise vibration and sound, which were replaced on a regular basis to ensure optimum performance."

Mr Cristiano added: "We accept that on this single occasion we fell short of our usually high standards and for that we apologise."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in