Boris Johnson's old mud-pie garden 'at risk'

The Mayor's childhood home in Regent's Park Road, Primrose Hill, is at the centre of a planning row.

Neighbours said proposals to build a basement with a cinema and gym under the back garden would cause disruption and destroy the character of the conservation area.

Boris Johnson, who lived at the pink Victorian villa until he was eight, told the Camden New Journal he had "very happy memories" of making mud-pies and miniature villages in the flower beds. His father Stanley Johnson said: "It was a lovely back garden and it would be a great shame to do anything that may spoil it." Jeremy Morris, who bought the house for £5.25 million this year, said the garden would be replaced once the subterranean room is built.

Camden council said a final decision would be made on May 16.