James Franco. (Reuters file photo)

James Franco's neighbours have accused the actor of disrupting a residential area in California by running a film production company out of his home.

The Spider-Man star purchased a house in Silver Lake, Los Angeles last summer and a group of residents there have now written an open letter of complaint to the actor.

In the note, obtained by real estate blog La.curbed.com, the neighbours allege Franco does not live at the property and that their grievances over production vehicles blocking their driveways have been ignored by a female employee of the actor, named only as Iris.

They write, "At first... (we) were pleased to have Mr. Franco living next door. His work in Milk and his academic pursuits made us happy he was on our street. That is no longer the case. If, in fact, Mr. Franco has purchased the house next door, it does not appear to be inhabited by the actor; it does appear to be inhabited by several people who are working for him...

"The property has become a production house. In fact, Iris, who works for the actor informed me that they are running production from the house...

"Iris basically informed me they could do whatever they want on their property. Really? Running a production of such impact and magnitude in a residential area doesn't violate any zoning restrictions? Are there no limits to the kinds of businesses one can run?

"We like James Franco and we like some of his movies, but we're not so enamoured of his presence that we are willing to give up our sanity in our own home."

Franco recently revealed he bought a house in California last year, but doesn't live there full-time because he is worried about fans turning up on his doorstep.

He told Britain's InStyle magazine, "It's pretty scary when you buy a new house and they put the address on the Internet. Photographers then know where you live and pretty much every psycho out there can turn up on your doorstep. I haven't been to my house in a while because of it actually."