Top Gear's Richard Hammond seeks changes to his £2.5m new home

Most people moving into a new house have their mind on home improvements such as a new kitchen, adding a conservatory or even just a spot of DIY.

But Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond is showing where his priorities lie.

Just months after snapping up a £2.5 million mock castle in Weston-under-Penyard, the West TV star has applied for permission to knock down a stable block to build a garage for his expensive car collection.

Mr Hammond has told planners he needs somewhere secure to house his Porsche 911, Morgan, old Land Rover, American muscle car and Harley-Davidson motorbike.

But although he is king of his own mock Tudor castle, the presenter cannot just go ahead and build a garage because the house and some of the outbuildings are listed.

He will need to convince conservation officers he will not damage the historic property by demolishing the stables which are amid Grade I, Grade II and Grade II* listed buildings.

His architect claims Hammond, dubbed the Hamster, does not want to spoil the look of the historic outbuildings by cramming his motors inside.

A new five-bay garage block within the walls of the mock castle would provide secure parking.

But he has promised to build it out of brick, timber and weatherboard so it fits in with his historic six-bedroom house with swimming pool.

But Hammond's wife Mindy need not fear that the man's man is about to turn the family home into a souped-up macho pad. He will be leaving another stable block for trusty steeds belonging to his 42-year-old horse-mad wife their two daughters, Izzy and Willow.

The Grade I-listed Gothic stable block is considered more architecturally important than the Queen Anne house.

The family recently moved in with their four dogs, chickens, sheep, two cats and a rabbit after a spate of moving.

Hammond, who cheated death when he crashed a car at over 288mph in a speed record attempt, had wanted to move closer to work in London. But the family regretted leaving their 18th century Gloucestershire cottage and within days of moving to Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, the family did a U-turn and headed back down the M4 to a rented farmhouse in Gloucestershire.

He bought the castle near Ross-on-Wye after he and co-star James May won a pay rise after urging BBC bosses to bridge the wages gap between them and £2m-a-year Jeremy Clarkson, who fronts the show.