Bollywood actor Sumeet Singh Sarao is facing enforcement action from Telford and Wrekin Council to remove soil from his garden after a six-year planning dispute. In 2020, he raised the ground level by 1.4 metres during landscaping work without obtaining planning permission, prompting the council to claim that neighbouring residents have suffered unacceptable loss of privacy.

The 39-year-old, who has lived in the £900,000 Shropshire property for 14 years, contends that existing hedges and trees along the boundary prevent overlooking and argues he offered additional privacy measures which the council rejected. The council has now ordered him to lower the garden to 1.6 metres—below its pre-alteration level—or face costly council-ordered demolition, despite Sarao stating he spent £8,000 to £9,000 on the work and that bulldozing would require removing walls.