RESIDENTS have called on a hospital to honour its promise made eight years ago over the dismantling of a "temporary" car park next to their homes.

Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone applied for permission to tarmac on the green patch of land because another car park was put out of use during building works.

Households dropped their objections after being told in 2004 that the site would be returned to its original condition and sold to them for a nominal fee of £1 by 2012.

But families have been dismayed to discover that new management at the hospital have said they intend to "dispose" of the land instead - prompting fears it will be sold to a property developer.

Around 50 homes in Halford Road, West End Avenue and Stacey Close were originally told they could each have a strip of the land so they could extend their back gardens by around 28 feet.

Residents group representative Noel Chapman, of West End Avenue, said: "There have been various planning schemes for the land over the years, including an access route, a building extension and a bike shed, and we objected to all of them.

"But we agreed to the car park because we thought after eight years the threat of development would finally be over.

"Of course we're happy to get a bit more garden but it's about protecting the land and stopping an awful building right next to our homes."

The original agreement was made as part of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) redevelopment of the hospital which subsequently collapsed.

The hospital made the promise in writing to residents but there was no legal contract.

And management upheaval in the wake of its merger into the Barts Health Trust has further muddied the waters.

Ward councillor Cllr Farooq Qureshi, a member of the original planning committee which negotiated and approved the car park deal between residents and the hospital, said the promise should be honoured.

He said: "I am 100 per cent backing the residents.

"If this is not done it sets a dangerous precedent and undermines trust in our institutions."

The trust has told residents it will meet with them to discuss a "solution" and households hope a deal can be reached.

A spokeswoman said: "We very much want to reach agreement about a way forward.

"We do not agree about the past in every respect. We are meeting local residents in the next fortnight to try and agree what happens next."