A Hollywood actor has launched legal action against a UK council over a manor house dubbed 'Downton Shabby' after being threatened with eviction.
Hopwood DePree has told of spending eight years and half a million pounds trying to restore a stately home in Middleton, Greater Manchester.
The 55-year-old published a book called Downton Shabby detailing his efforts to revamp the 15th century mansion associated with his family for 400 years.
Yet he has been forced out of his 'ancestral family home', finding out last year the gates were locked to him despite his planned £13million renovations.
And he has now issued a legal case against Rochdale Borough Council in a bid to regain access to the 60-room mansion named Hopwood Hall.
