A millionaire businessman who installed an electric fence around his £44.5million Notting Hill mansion to stop foxes from 'scaring' his wife has been forced to tear it down. 

David Walsh and his wife Jyotsna Chadha erected the huge barrier around the border of their palatial property. 

But after Kensington and Chelsea Council and some of their well-heeled neighbours accused the couple of 'fortifying their home', the couple have replaced the fence with metal spikes. 

However, the council has told the Daily Mail the spikes were not put up at its request and that the couple had the right to appeal the decision banning their electric fence.

Locals said the tiny spikes, running along the front garden wall, constantly fall off and are no defence against the foxes that roam the leafy street. 

One resident said: 'It's a serious issue round here, if the woman who lives there is terrified of foxes there's a good reason to have the fence. 

'The poor woman, because she's so terrified I reckon they'll probably move. 

'The foxes come and dig everything, there are paw prints everywhere and poo has been found on my front door, so I do get it.'      

Pictured: The house before the electric fence was torn down from around the £44.5million mansion

Pictured: The newly erected metal spikes on the bordering walls of the Notting Hill house

Pictured: The new metal spikes that now line the outside of the palatial property 

Pictured: The electric fence, which has since been torn down lining the home

Properties on the street sell for millions of pounds, however the couple's is by far the most expensive on the road. 

In retrospective planning documents, Mr Walsh - who is the founder of underwriting giants CFC, worth an estimated £2.5billion - argued that the inclusion of the fence was 'intended for fox prevention purposes.'

The drastic measures were the subject of ridicule among locals and online. 

One person commented: 'What a stupid idea. The placement could easily cause a fire with the tree branches so close to the wire. It also looks hideous.'

Another added: 'Keeps all manner of vermin away, including humans. Great idea. Well done!'

Meanwhile, the fence was part of a serious debate with Mail on Sunday columnist Alexandra Shulman revealing she sympathised with the couple having contracted scabies from a fox that broke into her home. 

There were multiple objectors to the fence, including the Ladbroke Association community group - which cited the danger the installation 'posed to groups of people.' 

The large congregations the group is undoubtedly referring to would be the Notting Hill Carnival, which takes place just feet from the conservation area and brings over two million people into the suburb every August.