VIDEO: Fury over lorries blocking cul de sac

Residents of a small country lane are being driven mad by builders' trucks.

A plan for 140 homes on land off Campton Road in Shefford had originally been rejected by Central Beds Council and Shefford Town Council.

But the developers, Bovis Homes, won on appeal and the first residents knew of the situation was when contractors turned up at the site earlier this year.

Residents of the cul-de-sac, which has 12 houses, say their lives are now a misery.

They say:

l they are regularly blocked in the morning by lorries waiting to get on the site

l alarms have been going off at night on the site

l they have been abused by lorry drivers who can’t get their vehicles past their legally parked cars

l cars and house windows are regularly covered in dust

l contractors regularly park on Campton Road rather than the building site, causing difficulties for residents.

Resident Stephen Meakins said: “They turn up at 6am on some days but regularly at 7-7.30am. They are noisy when they are reversing down the street and block the road.

“We have been sworn at because our car was on the road.

“They are turning our street into part of their building site.”

The residents, who have now got together to campaign against the disruption, say the first they heard that the plan had been given the go-ahead by planning inspectors was when hedgerows and a post box were removed.

One resident said: “We have had no communication, they just started turning up on the site.

“We are all up in arms because we haven’t been communicated with.

“The builders are parking and stopping people from getting out of their own drives.”

The residents say they have written several timesto people at Central Beds Council and Nadine Dorries MP but have not yet had any response.

A Central Beds Council spokesman said: “We have received complaints regarding noise and working hours from the construction site and investigations remain ongoing at this time.

“Should the council substantiate any of the allegations made and informal means are unable to reach a satisfactory conclusion then we would consider taking formal action.”

A Bovis Homes spokesperson said: “Our regional team had not previously been made aware of any complaints from local residents but we do take these comments seriously and will look into them.

“With regard to lorries and other vehicles on site, we will talk to our contractors to remind them of their obligations, and we will look to mitigate the effects of noise and dust on surrounding homes wherever possible.

“This initial phase of construction is expected to be complete in August, with the first new homes at Campton Road available at the end of the year and we will look to be good neighbours in the local community as we deliver these much-needed new homes.”