ANGRY residents near the Enham Trust’s latest housing development have hit out at their 19 months of disruption.

Elderly and disabled residents in Heath Vale have told the Andover Advertiser that they are furious about the “inconvenience” the project has caused as well as the potential reduction in on-street parking spaces.

They say gardens have been dug up, vans have parked across driveways and grass verges have been damaged by heavy vehicles, causing problems for residents using mobility scooters.

One resident lost her phone line due to a crane breaking the overhead power line.

The £1.3 million Bradbury Place building project, which has been undertaken by the trust on Winchester Road, is on the site of the former Anton Court flats.

Originally due to have been completed within 12 months the build ran to 18 months. The construction of the units also saw an alleyway to the town cut off.

One resident, Irene Williams, 68, said: “Heath Vale is a small cul-de-sac with limited parking and we were told by Victoria Leesam, who is in charge of the project, at a meeting before work began, that we would not lose our parking spaces and that the residents of the new dwellings would have to park in Wellington House, across Winchester Road.

“Heath Vale residents have put up with disruption, damage and noise for 19 months, and terrible problems parking with all the building vehicles and equipment filling this small road.

“Residents near the site also lost part of their gardens as access to the site was limited.

“Now, to add insult to injury, I hear that the socalled ‘bell end’ parking area will be used for an ambulance only space and a space for wheelchair-carrying vehicles for Bradbury Place residents, so the disabled residents of Heath Vale will not be able to park there.

“They seem to forget that most of the Heath Vale residents are elderly and disabled, too, and we need our parking spaces.”

Mobility scooter user Vera Hurford, 82, said: “They have left a lot of mud outside my gate and I cannot get out easily.”

A spokesman for the trust said it accepted that the project had gone on for too long.

However, he believed the long-term effects should benefit all. He said a leaflet pledging resolutions to the residents’ concerns has been distributed to their properties.

Enham Trust’s property regeneration executive, Victoria Leesam, said: “Enham Trust would like to apologise to residents for the disruption and inconvenience that the Bradbury Place development has created.

“We are working with a variety of agencies to find a swift solution to the concerns raised by residents.

“Bradbury Place has created eight new homes, accessible to people living with a disability, in the heart of the community of Andover.

“For many of the people moving into this new development this is a dream come true by giving them real independence.”