Ant McPartlin has put even more distance between himself and Declan Donnelly after buying a house 40 miles away, it has been reported.

The TV star is said to have splashed the cash, putting down £10million on a new home in Surrey after saying goodbye to his plush pad in Wimbledon, South West London. News of the purchase of the new-build mansion comes after Dec, 50, said that the Geordie pair don’t spend as much time together anymore.

Fed up Ant decided to pack his bags after a planning dispute with neighbours, it is claimed. The row came after locals accused the pair of wanting to cut down six "healthy" trees in their garden. He gained permission from the local council to fell the trees last February despite the fact that they were protected by a Tree Preservation Order.

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However, a neighbour objected to the decision and said there was "no justification" given apart from "the applicant’s wish to allow re-landscaping of part of their garden". He decided to look for a home elsewhere and has settled on a quiet village outside of the capital, around an hour from where Dec live.

The pair used to live next door to each other in Chiswick, West London, before he moved to Wimbledon in 2018. The previously inseparable TV duo have lived close together ever since they first moved to London and shared a flat as teenagers.

A local resident has seen Ant out and about and told MailOnline: "Apparently, it is a record sale for the area and it’s all anyone is gossiping about. It is one of the prime private estates in an acre of grounds so he shouldn’t have trouble with the neighbours any more."

Ant and Dec last week revealed that they've only ever had "one big argument" during their 37-year partnership - and it ended with Dec storming off home. While the pair have hosted a number of quiz shows together throughout their career, they have revealed that they had their only major clash over a board game of ITV's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Speaking on their podcast, the duo admitted that they haven't played it since.

"We had an argument over Who Wants to be a Millionaire board game," Ant said, describing their only big row. "Dec packed up the board game and went home - like a child."

Dec, 50, defiantly added: "It was my board game so I took it home because you were a d**k." While Ant, 50, protested that he wasn't, Dec continued: "You were so vindictive as a game show host."

Dec explained that Ant had given him a question about murder mystery authors, with two of the options being Agatha Christie and Ruth Rendell. "I go, 'It's either Agatha Christie or Ruth Rendell,' and I made the mistake of saying it out loud," he said.

They decided to record Hanging Out with Ant and Dec because they have not been seeing enough of each other. Dec, 50, said on the show that the reason for getting around to organise the podcast was down to the fact the pair don’t spend as much time together anymore.

Dec has two kids with his wife Ali Astall, daughter Isla and son Jack, with the former born in 2018 and the latter coming later in 2022. Ant has a baby son Wilder with his wife Anne-Marie Corbett, alongside co-parenting her two teenage daughters from a previous relationship.

He explained: “We’re now dads to very small children…the little ones especially take up a lot of time and effort and energy. I love them dearly, but we don’t hang out as much as we used to. Ant’s moved house now, geographically we’re further away from each other than we’ve ever been.

The TV stars met as child actors on Byker Grove in 1989 before becoming one of the biggest presenting double acts in the country over the last few decades.

Hanging Out with Ant and Dec releases new episodes every Thursday on Spotify, Belta Box and wherever you get your podcasts.