GEORGE CLOONEY - CLOONEY: 'I'M NOT SELLING UP IN ITALY'

CLOONEY: 'I'M NOT SELLING UP IN ITALY'

GEORGE CLOONEY has hit back at reports he's selling his famous Italian retreat on the shores of Lake Como, insisting he loves the area. The movie star is one of only 880 residents of the sleepy town of Laglio, and he is adamant he has no plans to move on, despite reports to the contrary. He says, "I'm so taken with where I live and how much I love that area... It's where I wrote Good Night And Good Luck and where I finished the script for (new movie) Leatherheads. It's a really peaceful place to go and write." But he admits he was upset when a local dignitary suggested Clooney turn his waterfront palace into a tourist attraction earlier this year (07). He explains, "The mayor of this little town came up with a sort of master plan to fill in this beautiful old boat dock that's next to my house and make it a park for viewing George Clooney's place. "The townspeople filled out a long petition from almost all of them to the mayor saying: `Please don't do this' and I signed it with them. "I said, `'f you want to go forward with this and if it's my fault that it's happening, then I should leave.' I don't want their town being ruined. I don't want them to lose their fishing village."