Noisy neighbour Brooke Shields

Mar 16, 2010, 13:01 GMT

Brooke Shields has infuriated her neighbours with renovation work on her New York home.

The 'Lipstick Jungle' star has commissioned extensive changes to be made to her $5.6 million home in the city's West Village area, but builders are said to be making so much noise and mess, other residents are threatening to move out.

One tenant who lives near the actress said: "They start construction at 6am every morning, and people are outraged. This has been going on for months, and people in surrounding buildings are threatening their property managers that they'll move out if it doesn't stop."

The tenant added complaints to construction workers have been dismissed.

A group of residents reportedly confronted the renovation team but were told: "If you have a problem, take it up with Brooke Shields."

BLDG management, which leases many local apartments, has refused to comment on the troubles reported by the residents, including that the renovations have caused the sidewalk near the star's home to be closed.

Despite their problems with their famous neighbour, residents admit they were initially pleased when the star moved into the area in 2008 - reportedly at the suggestion of her 'Lipstick Jungle' co-star Lindsay Price - but the recent developments have made them rethink their view.

The source said: "A lot of people around here were happy that those two were in the neighbourhood. It's a pretty close-knit environment around here, and it's always nice to see a famous face. Now people definitely have strong feelings about Brooke disrupting the normally peaceful atmosphere."

Despite the complaints, Brooke - who has two daughters, Rowan, six, and Grier, three, with husband Chris Henchy - has defended herself, saying she has a permit and the works are legal and are "up to code every step of the way."

Her representative told the New York Daily News newspaper: "They truly apologise about the noise or any inconvenience and hope more than anybody to have it finished as soon as possible."