A friend of Cooper’s was quoted: ‘It’s all got nasty … it’s just a dispute that’s got out of hand.’
Daisy May Cooper is reportedly in a legal dispute with the landlady of her Cotswolds home
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Shaun Wilson1 minute ago
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BBC comedy star Daisy May Cooper is facing a £30,000 legal challenge from the landlady of her historic Cotswolds property after reportedly painting it an “awful” shade of bright blue without permission.
Cooper, 38, who shot to fame in the BBC hit This Country, has allegedly refused to repaint the room in the seven-bedroom Grade II-listed mansion in Gloucestershire back to its original heritage colour.
The owner of the 17,000-a-month property, Rebecca Ferry, 46, says she was left in tears by the vibrant ‘dentist-chair blue’ walls, complete with dinosaur stickers, Mail Online reports.
Mother-of-five Ms Ferry has now launched legal proceedings, saying she may face trouble over the house’s protected status, and she has accused the actor of failing to respect the home she and her family have owned for two decades.
“We’ve had it for 20 years and it’s the place where I brought up the kids, so it’s more than just a rental, it’s a home,” she said.
Ms Ferry claims she was left distraught when she saw the paint job, adding: “I had to leave and I went outside and I cried when I saw it. I was lost for words initially and I just had to leave because I didn’t expect them to do that to a house that’s newly renovated.
“It was bright, dentist-chair blue and covered in huge dinosaur stickers. It was awful actually.”
A friend of Cooper’s is reported to have said: “It’s all got nasty … it’s just a dispute that’s got out of hand.”
Ms Ferry says she was reassured when mother-of-three Cooper first moved into the property in December 2023, with her boyfriend Anthony Huggins, known as DJ Fuse as the actor promised to ‘love and look after’ the home.
But cracks started to appear in the relationship, with Ms Ferry accusing her famous tenant of sneaking in cats – despite a clause forbidding it in the rental contract due to her daughter’s allergy.
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Cooper is allegedly refusing to remove her cats but has suggested she will pay for professional cleaners when she moves out.
Ms Ferry says she carefully chose the original Farrow & Ball paint to follow listed building rules and that modern renovation could cause long-term damage to the historic property.
Historic England’s guidance states using modern paints on listed properties requires listed building consent as it ‘is likely to affect special interest due to physical damage’.
A noise complaint was made by neighbours after Cooper is said to have taken quad bikes from the garage without permission. Cooper is understood to have apologised and explained she believed she had been given permission by the letting agent.
Ms Ferry’s lawyers are now calling on Cooper to pay for a heritage expert to estimate the damage, with negotiations continuing.
Despite the fallout, Cooper’s professional star continues to shine. She won a Bafta for her acclaimed mockumentary This Country, and is currently starring in the second season of BBC One’s Am I Being Unreasonable?
Cooper’s representatives have been approached for comment.