A CONTROVERSIAL development is already causing problems for nearby residents, town councillors have claimed.

Developer Persimmon Homes was given full approval to build a new 37-house estate within the Frinton gates earlier this year.

Contractors have now started work at the former reservoir site, off Wittonwood Road.

The plans were fiercely contested by councillors and residents when they were going through the planning process, but Tendring Council eventually gave them the green light.

One of the biggest concerns was the effect that construction work would have on current Wittonwood Road residents during the estimated 18 months of building.

Councillors feared they would be blighted by noisy work and antisocial parking by contractors’ vans, as well as traffic chaos while heavy machinery was travelling to and from the site.

They claim those fears were already being realised.

Mayor Iris Johnson said: “I went to have a look at it on Monday and there were four massive lorries taking away spill from the back of the site. One parked in front of a lady’s house and she had to go out and ask them to move. It is already causing problems.”

Town and district councillor Nick Turner wants anyone who spots contractors ignoring construction regulations or making life difficult for residents to take a picture and report it to Tendring Council. He said the evidence would allow planning enforcers to act.