EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Jennifer Saunders and Adrian Edmondson are locked in a planning row over plans for dream dwelling on Dartmoor

She and her husband could lay claim to being Britain’s funniest couple, but Jennifer Saunders and Adrian Edmondson have failed to amuse conservationists with their plans for a Grand Designs-style makeover of their historic Devon farmhouse.

Absolutely Fabulous star Saunders and Edmondson, who’s best known as violent punk Vyvyan in 1980s cult sitcom The Young Ones, want to build a new entrance, car port and turning area at their £2million, 16th Century manor house as well as a pottery and music studio.

The comedians say it will take cars away from the Grade II listed house and ‘reinforce its significance and enhance its setting’ within the Dartmoor National Park.

But officials at the local council have slated plans for a new raised wall and glazed balustrade, saying it will harm the setting of the house.

They also cited the ‘negative impact’ of a new oak-framed garden pavilion for outside dining and called for architects to go back to the drawing board.

French and Saunders star Jennifer, 66, and Edmondson, 67, originally bought the five-acre estate as a holiday retreat for daughters Ella, Beattie and Freya, with a separate two-bedroom cottage, workshops, marquee lawn and walled garden.

Jennifer became a familiar figure among the country set, riding out with Freya and members of the Mid Devon Hunt on the traditional Boxing Day drag hunt.

But the couple now want to turn it into a dream retirement home as they plan to spend less time in London where they also own a house.

Planners at Dartmoor Park National Planning Authority are expected to make a final decision next month and there have so far been no objections from neighbours.

In her report, building conservation officer Clare Vint says: ‘The interior and exterior of the building are of high significance architecturally, historically and archaeologically.

‘As the application currently stands, the impact of the proposals on the significance of the listed building and their setting has not been minimised. There is also insufficient justification for the works and minimal public interest.’

Is time really on Jagger ex’s side?

Sir Mick Jagger’s former inamorata, Luciana Gimenez, has come up with an ingenious way to defy ageing – pretend you’re much younger.

The Brazilian television host, who has a son, Lucas, 25, with the Rolling Stones singer, 81, turned 55 at the weekend. She marked the occcasion with a party featuring balloons and candles, inset, emblazoned with the number 30.

Lady Marina’s trick or treat

Her sister, Amelia, was named the ‘most beautiful royal’ by Tatler, but Lady Marina Windsor appears determined to be the most daring dresser.

The charity events manager, 32, whose grandfather is the Duke of Kent, wore a translucent black outfit as The Addams Family’s matriarch Morticia Addams to a Halloween party at the weekend.

Lady Marina was joined by boyfriend, Nico Macauley, 31, a cyber security specialist, who went as Neo from The Matrix.

Just no justice for Doctor Who star

He played a Time Lord in Doctor Who in the 1980s, but Colin Baker was once told he didn’t have enough conviction to perform the role of a lawyer in another television drama – even though he’d been a solicitor in real life.

‘Back in the Seventies, I auditioned for the role of a barrister in crown court,’ he says. ‘The director told me that despite my giving a good audition, he was sorry but I didn’t look like a lawyer. I replied, ‘But I actually was a lawyer for five years before I became an actor and… well, no judge ever refused to listen to me.’

‘But the verdict remained the same, and there was no appeal.’

Pixie Lott reveals her room service secrets

While most of us might expect nothing more than a few chocolates on the bed – if we’re lucky – as a hotel welcome, pop star Pixie Lott boasts of more personal touches.

‘I really feel like hotels are pulling out all the stops when you go into a room,’ says the 33-year-old singer, who had her first child last year with her husband, Oliver Cheshire, a model. ‘I’ve had my song lyrics written on the mirror. And then they print out pictures of me and Oliver, and then the baby’s feet or whatever.’

She adds: ‘We’ve just got back from a hotel in Dubai. And basically it was, like, all the food and drink you could want included, and on top of that, spa treatments. So that blew me away. I definitely got my use of what we were allowed.’

More wokery at the British Museum with latest role?

More wokery at the British Museum (chairman: George Osborne). 

An advert for a new curator demands the ability ‘to contribute to discussions of empire, colonialism, enslavement and decolonisation within the museum and beyond’. 

Do they want an art historian or a politician? 

Campbell fails to woo former National Theatre director 

Alastair Campbell has failed to win over Sir Richard Eyre, former director of the National Theatre.

He accuses the former spin doctor- turned-podcaster of causing irreparable damage to the national mood because of his ‘ceasless belligerence’. 

Speaking at a celebration of the life of stage PR Lynne Kirwin at the Donmar Warehouse in London, Sir Richard makes comparisons with what he calls the ‘obscene sycophancy’ of Michael Cole, former spokesman for Mohamed Fayed.