Jason Statham is known as Hollywood’s hardman, fearlessly throwing himself into fights with some of the world’s most ferocious villains.
But in a rural corner of Britain, the Expendables and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels actor may have finally met his match: the great crested newt.
Mr Statham, 58, and his long-term partner, supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, 39, are locked in a planning battle over the redevelopment of their New Forest home after ecologists raised concerns about the impact of proposed works on the protected species.
The couple bought the six-bedroom property in 2024 for £20m and have already started redeveloping the 20-acre plot, which includes a tree house, boating lake, wild swimming pool and private stretch of beach.
Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler live nearby.
However, the couple’s latest plans to add a new driveway and remove part of the existing lake to create a wildflower meadow have been met with opposition from NatureSpace Partnership, an ecologists’ association.
The group lodged an objection to the proposals after claiming the development fell “within the red impact risk zone for great crested newts”, meaning there was a “high likelihood” of a habitat in the area.
