Helen Mirren accused of disfiguring natural beauty near house in Italy

Dame Helen Mirren’s dreams of a tumbledown beachside retreat near her luxury estate in southern Italy have hit a stumbling block as police halted construction amid claims she breached building regulations.

The Academy Award-winning actress and Taylor Hackford, her husband and Hollywood director, bought the crumbling 79 square metre stone shack with spectacular views of the Adriatic in December 2017 with the dream of converting it into a seaside refuge.

But she appears to have fallen foul of local planners for the second time, with police accusing her of “disfiguring the natural beauty” of the surrounding area by adding a new restraining wall.

Construction has stopped on the property, located at Torre Nasparo, which is surrounded by national park in the southern region of Puglia. Prosecutors have opened an investigation.

“This has struck Dame Helen like a bolt from the blue, she never expected this,” Pietro Nuccio, her lawyer, said. “She fell in love with this location because it was in ruins and she wanted to save it.”

The couple were planning to spend up to €300,000 (Dh1.2 million) to restore the house and use it as a seaside getaway. It is 16km from the estate the couple bought 12 years ago.

Provincial police are looking into allegations that include illegal construction, disfiguring the natural beauty of the area and carrying out renovation works without the appropriate permits, according to local reports.

They claim dry stone walls have been replaced by cement and the walls are higher than acceptable. “If cement has been used it will be taken off,” said Nuccio. “If laws have not been respected we will find a solution.”

“The problem is that the walls should be no more than 6.5ft and two are 12ft,” Nuccio said.

“If there is a small violation it can be solved. There is no damage to the natural beauty.”

It is not the first time Mirren has clashed with planning authorities in Puglia. In 2012, she became embroiled in a dispute with Anna De Giovanni, her neighbour, after she and her husband sought permission to renovate their once abandoned farmhouse near Tiggiano in southern Puglia. — The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2018