Heybridge residents fear flooding will worsen if a proposal for 100 homes on a flood zone gets the go ahead.

Strutt and Parker has applied for outline planning permission for up to 100 two-storey properties on farmland with access from Holloway Road, which runs alongside.

In the developer’s flood risk assessment, it is noted: “Much of the site is located in flood zone one and can be developed in a way that will avoid locating dwellings and infrastructure within flood zones two and three.

But residents say more homes will mean more flooding in their neighbourhood.

B&B owner John Hanson, of Holloway Road, said: “The road and the ditches flood three times a year.

“Building behind us, if they don’t do something about flooding, it will hit us quicker.

Musician Tim Thorogood, 40, of Holloway Road, added: “Our house has flooded because of the run off water on the very area they’re going to concrete over.”