Bond Composer In War Over London Studio

David Arnold, who has scored five 007 movies as well as alien blockbuster Independence Day, is opposing plans to build a basement conversion at a house near the AIR recording studios in Hampstead, north London.

The musician claims the work proposed by neighbours, who want to add an underground swimming pool and gym to their home, will disrupt recordings at the studio complex, which was set up by Beatles producer Sir George Martin.

Arnold has written a letter to officials at Camden Council in a bid to persuade them not to grant planning permission for the project.

He writes, "When I record in the main hall at AIR with an orchestra every extraneous noise can affect the work. If there is a noise beyond a certain level we can't work. The studio is home to many film composers who work here and bring in millions of pounds worth of business from abroad. It's effectively a hugely successful export business... The type of excavation works proposed and the drilling involved would render our workplace unusable. It couldn't function as a recording studio and would send those millions of dollars to other countries..."

The studio complex, which was originally housed on Oxford Street before moving to Hampstead in 1991, is best known as the site where Bob Geldof recorded his 2004 Live Aid single with stars including Chris Martin and Bono.