VILLAGERS raised the alarm after plans for 37 homes off a busy country lane were submitted to Rochford District Council.

The brownfield site, at 90 Main Road, Hawkwell, was previously home to businesses Benchmark Doors and Auto-Plas International, but is now vacant.

Plans include demolishing the factories and building 37 homes in their place.

The site was allocated for homes in the 2006 Rochford District Local Plan, and will add to the 175 homes already being built in the village, on the neighbouring Clements Gate development.

Carol Dutton, 68, of nearby Thorpe Road, fears the impact the new homes and their associated cars will have on the surrounding roads.

She said: “The disruption when building is taking place is terrible.

“It totally disrupts the whole area and it is absolutely dreadful.

“As a community, we have had enough disruption with the 175 homes, and that hasn’t even finished yet.

“These new homes are going to be right next to the Clements Gate site and our road has already turned into a rat-run.

“We have been applying to Essex County Council to block the road and stop people using it as a through road, but had no luck so far.”

Developer Marden Homes has submitted the application to the council.

The plan includes a mixture of detached, semidetached and terraced properties, along with gardens, parking and a pumping station.

The developer has also said a large area of public open spacewill also be provided, as part of the scheme’s landscaping strategy.

Nearby residents were sent a letter by planning consultants Strutt & Parker, on behalf of Marden Homes, in January and the final application has now been validated by the council, ready for assessment by officers.

Ms Dutton added: “Ever since David Wilson Homes got planning permission for that many homes we’ve thought the development will not stop.

“There will be application after application and to be honest we are just waiting for what is coming next.”

Developer Marden Homes declined to comment when contacted by the Echo.