Star Davis’s 6ft wall is a tall order for villagers

AT JUST 3 ft 6 in, Warwick Davis is Britain’s most celebrated actor of short stature.

Davis, who played an Ewok in Star Wars and Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter films, has nevertheless found himself lambasted by officials at his local council for trying to build a wall outside his mansion that, at 6ft, was ‘too high’.

He was given the go-ahead to knock down his old £455,000 threebedroom home and build a new one complete with a cinema, recording booth and a lift.

He then wanted to build a new front boundary wall and gates at his £2 million, seven-bedroom home near Peterborough to boost security after his caravan was stolen.

Davis, 48, applied for planning permission to remove a hedgerow to make way for the wall but parish councillors said it was too ‘harsh’ and out of keeping with the area. In

a letter of objection, parish clerk Janice Osborn said: ‘ The wall brings an unsuitable urban note to a small country village. The stark wall is harmful to the appearance of the street scene.

‘The wall is higher than 1.8m and the gates even taller, these are too high.’

District councillor Tim Alban added: ‘While I don’t object to a wall being built or the gates, I do object to the removal of the hedge . . . If a wall is needed for security, perhaps a compromise could be that it is built within the grounds of the property, behind the hedge?’ Davis tells me his plans were rejected. ‘I didn’t want to upset the community, so I’m now putting in a hedge and a gate. Standard walls are 6ft. ‘I don’t know how high the hedge will be — I’ll have to see how much it grows.’