A quiet residential street was today split down the middle after eco-warriors moved in to defend nearby scrubland.

While residents on one side of Golden Cross Road in Ashingdon welcomed the green protesters with open arms - the other side wants them to pack up their makeshift camp and leave.

The eco-warriors, who were evicted from Etheldore Woods in Hockley, have already set up field kitchens and built tree houses to protest against 73 new homes earmarked for Golden Cross Road.

Teenage eco-warrior Christiana Tugwell, who is still holed up at Etheldore, has vowed to bring her band of protesters to Golden Cross once they are officially evicted from the woods.

However, while eco-warriors claim residents were "begging them to come down" to Golden Cross, other homeowners nearer the development are pleading with them to leave.

Carol Brock, who lives next to the empty bungalow which will be demolished to create an access road for builders, said: "They just tramp in and out and have put up a wish list asking for donations like scaffolding, pots and pans, food and blankets. Well, our wish is for them to leave as soon as possible.

"We now overlook them from our garden. Since they arrived we have not seen a fox or green woodpecker. They seem to be spoiling the natural habitats they set out to save."

One resident, who did not want to be named, said the development would destroy the reason she moved into the country in the first place.

She said: "There won't be a bit of wildlife left - we moved into the country to get peace and quiet."

Eco-warrior Seth Barrowvat-Longknee, 25, said his group occupied the land after appeals for help.

He said: "They are at the end of their tether - the main reason we came here is because of the massive local support."

Other residents didn't want any development at all, and the majority said they had been concerned about drainage on the site.

Ms Brock, 52, said the residents who invited the eco-warriors on to the site, live on the opposite side of the street and would only be affected by traffic caused by building work.

She said: "We all opposed the development. But whether we like it or not, it is going ahead.

"The eco-warriors will not stop it, they will just prolong the inevitable. We do not need them here digging their tunnels to defend our rights.

"This could drag on for months and months. We are dreading it this summer as there is no sanitation."

Another resident Lesley Billington, 45, strongly objected to the eco-warriors being invited on to the site without consultation with all residents in the road.

She said: "The residents who asked them here were not acting on my behalf. I do not want them here. They are breaking the law, regardless of what they think they are doing."

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.