A fed-up judge has told Sir Sean Connery and his downstairs neighbours to end their feud. State Supreme Court Justice Marcy Friedman is encouraging the James Bond star's family and ophthalmologist Dr Burton Sultan's clan to end their legal battle over their shared Upper East Side townhouse in Manhattan.

The judge tossed out many of the Sultans' claims but also slammed the Connerys for what she called their "blunderbuss" legal salvos.

"Regrettably, both parties to this dispute have engaged in a 'slash and burn' litigation strategy," Friedman wrote, barring both sides from filing any more lawsuits without her permission.

Connery's lawyer and publicist and Sultan's lawyer did not immediately return telephone messages.

The neighbours have clashed repeatedly over the Connerys' renovations to the six-storey, 1869 townhouse in East 71st Street. The Sultans live on the lower four floors.

Connery's son bought the top two as a condominium in 1998 but moved elsewhere two years later and let his parents move in.

The Sultans have claimed in court papers that the years-long renovations subjected them to noise, fumes, leaks and rats, damaging their home and ruining their notable collection of Victorian and early 20th-century wicker furniture.

The Sultans' court papers also have called Connery the antithesis of the suave spy he famously played, branding him "a bully who ignores norms of neighbourliness and decency", blasts loud music and has refused to quieten down.

The Connerys have claimed that the Sultans' complaints have delayed needed repairs to the townhouse roof, putting the actor's family at risk and increasing the costs of the work. Connery, 77, was the first actor to play the British secret agent known as 007 on film, in 1962's "Dr. No." He reprised the role in such Bond classics as "From Russia With Love," "Goldfinger" and "You Only Live Twice." He was knighted in 2000.