SIR Sean Connery is battling developers who he claims are destroying the natural beauty of the area around his home in the Bahamas.

The former James Bond star is spearheading a campaign to save a historic bay which has been threatened by building work and oil spills.

He has become a spokesman for the Save The Bays, a national movement to protect and preserve marine resources and quash unregulated development that threatens the waters and marine life of the country.

Connery made two Bond films on the island before buying a home there around 20 years ago. The 82-year-old Scot lives in the plush Lyford Cay neighbourhood on New Providence Island, surrounded on three sides by Clifton Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

The waters were once brimming with majestic coral reefs and colourful tropical and deepwater fish that attracted divers and film producers from around the world.

However, Save The Bays claim the area has been blighted by industrial and commercial oil spills and unregulated development.

Connery emerged from retirement to voice calls for the Bahamian Government to take action. He said: "As a long-time resident of the Bahamas, a country whose beautiful waters and beaches have been featured in a number of my films, I am proud to be a supporting member of Save The Bays, and to urge all Bahamians, citizens and residents, to support our effort to defend Clifton Bay along with all the natural resources of this country."

Save The Bays is urging the Bahamian Government to pass a Freedom of Information Act, require accountability for oil spills, stop unauthorised or un-regulated development and pass an Environment Protection Act.

The organisation has filed court action requesting a judicial review of matters it says have led to the threatened marine conditions.

Save The Bays director Fred Smith said: "In the movies, you may get a second chance.

"In real life, we have to make this happen now, we have to save the bays for our children before it is too late and we have depleted the fish, conch and crawfish stock as other countries in the Caribbean have.

"This is the fight of our generation and adding the un-mistakable voice of one of the greatest actors and heroes of our age, Sir Sean Connery, to the effort demonstrates the breadth, depth and urgency of the cause."

The area under threat was featured in the 1965 Bond film Thunderball where Connery filmed several scenes.

It was also used when Connery returned to the role in Never Say Never Again.

Six Bond films have filmed in the Bahamas, the most used location away from the studio.

Connery retired in 2003 following his lead role in The League of Extraordinary Gentleman.

He spends much of his time in the Bahamas where he enjoys the climate and golf courses.

Last month, he was given six months to answer questions about a Spanish land deal or face arrest.

Judges probing the sale and demolition of Connery's Costa del Sol home to make way for flats have sought a response from him for nearly three years.

Now the investigating judge in the case has indicated he is con-sidering issuing an international arrest warrant against Connery.

The actor and his French-born wife Micheline Roquebrune have denied any wrongdoing.