FAMILIES in an affluent residential street have united against plans to demolish a well-loved home and replace it with a block of flats.

Developer Kevin O’Connor bought 15 Carroll Hill, Loughton, in 2007, with plans to demolish it and replace it with a larger home.

Residents offered no objections to the scheme, but it never went ahead, and now Mr O’ Connor has applied to build eight flats on the site instead.

Carroll Hill resident Alan Quaife said: “Placing a block of apartments in the middle of a typical residential area would be quite out of keeping with the neighbourhood. It could lead to other developments like it.

“Opposition to the application has been unanimous in the road, and a barrage of objections has been submitted.

“I don’t want to get into nimbyism- we could all do this with our own houses and make a fair amount of money- but it’s not on.”

He added he was concerned about noise from constructing the development and said that the proposed eight underground car spaces for the project were inadequate.

Loughton Residents Association has also said it will oppose the application.

Vice-chairman David Linnell said: “They originally put in an application for a large house, then two small houses now they come back with the flats. That’s a change of character for the neighbourhood. As far as possible we like to keep things as they are.”

Neither Mr O’Connor nor his agent were available for comment.