According to Independet.co.uk, the outgoing chief executive of the Belgian beer giant Interbrew is pressing ahead with plans to build Canada's biggest private residence after overcoming protests from neighbours about the design of the house.

Hugo Powell, who surprised the brewing world on Friday, December 20, with news of his early retirement, was forced to scale back the original design for his Ontario mansion after some of the more grandiose elements upset residents.

The designs for the house, described by one Interbrew source as a "personal dream" for Mr Powell, replicate in part a castle lived in by Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife.

The main house will be 48,000 square feet, down from an original 54,322 square feet.

30 December, 2002