Neighbours film City boss's 'childish' sign flip in row over basement dig

It is a bitter basement battle that has set neighbour against neighbour and involved claims of dirty tricks in an exclusive Chelsea terrace.

At the centre of the long-running row is City finance boss Gregory Hutt, whose plans to dig beneath his £6 million home have been strongly resisted by dentist Jonathan Tan and his wife Robyn, who live next door.

The couple say they have caught Mr Hutt on camera “childishly” turning round a planning notice giving neighbours a chance to challenge his appeal against tight restrictions on the work.

Mr Hutt was granted permission to carry out the work
Glenn Copus

Mr Hutt has been seeking permission to build a family room and sitting room beneath his home for two years.

He was granted consent in 2014, but Kensington and Chelsea council imposed a ban on the use of power tools except with prior consent.

Notices were put up in the street, off King’s Road, on November 26 to inform neighbours of his latest challenge.

But Mr Tan and his wife claim they spotted their neighbour turning the sign so people could not see it. Mr Tan, who feared noise, dust and vibration from the work could force him to shut his dental surgery, said: “After the sign went up he was doing it every day. Every time he went to work at about 8am he would turn it around.

“We’d turn it back so people could see it, but when he came back from work in the evening he’d turn it back again. My wife tried to attach some wire to stop him. It was ridiculous, so we thought, ‘Let’s catch him in the act.’”

Dispute: neighbours Robyn and Jonathan Tan

On December 1 Mrs Tan waited in an unlit upstairs room armed with a cameraphone. As Mr Hutt walked to work at 8.19am he reached out to rotate the sign to face the road before striding off with a glance over his shoulder.

Mrs Tan said: “At first I’d thought it was probably just kids, I couldn’t believe he was behind it because it’s just so childish.”

The couple shared their footage on Facebook before a meeting of borough planning chiefs on Tuesday.

Despite the film, Mr Hutt’s appeal was granted. Planners agreed to overturn the ban on condition work is carried out in accordance with a report by environmental consultants.

Mr Hutt, chief financial officer of specialist financial services firm Pershing, said: “That [the video] is too trivial to discuss. This is not a mega-basement. We don’t understand why people are upset by the plans.”

Mr Tan said: “We are gutted. We fought a two-year battle and it’s cost me a fortune.”

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