A RESIDENT living in one of Colchester’s under construction estates claims builders are making his street unsafe for children to play in.

Developer Linden Homes is building the Northfields development off Turner Road, Colchester.

Khurram Qayam, of Stanford Road, said there had been problems throughout the day, several times over the last few weeks.

He added: “I do believe that other residents have similar concerns as well.

“We have been allocated one dedicated parking space and one extra parking space for the guests parking in front of the house.

“However, the construction workers and the contractors start parking along Stanford Road from 7am during the working week.

“They occupy the residents’ allocated parking space and sometimes block the parked vehicle and the road itself.

“The situation becomes worse with the delivery of construction material in big trucks on a daily basis.

“This not only creates driving and parking issues but makes the whole road like a muddy path, damaging the vehicles, walkways and clothes.

“Me and my wife are sometimes late for our work, appointments, and especially for the school of our son. The children cannot play outside due to this unsafe and untidy situation.”

Mr Qayam, 36, who works from home, said he had raised his concerns with the construction workers and site manager but matters had not improved.

His family moved to the estate in August and their son attends St John’s Green Primary School, on the other side of town.

He added: “There is no control and management of this inflow of construction traffic and no arrangement by Linden Homes of dedicated parking for the staff and the workers.

“I understand this is expected at a construction site but as the new phase of development just started, this situation could last for an extra four to five months, which is not acceptable by any means.”

A Linden Homes spokesman said: “As a considerate constructor, we take the comments from all local residents in the community with serious regard, we always endeavour to ensure that surrounding communities are unaffected by build works wherever possible and this development is no exception.

“A construction traffic curfew is currently being implemented in line with school drop off and collection times, and additional road cleaning has implemented with immediate effect, to further improve road safety.

“A review of the on-site parking is underway, and we shall be addressing the concerns raised directly with the site team to ensure that any issues are rectified.”