RESIDENTS suspicious about building works at a shop have mistaken repairs and maintenance for an illegal development, its owner has said.

As the Guardian reported earlier this week, concerns were raised about the building, in Hale End Road on the Highams Park and Woodford Green border, after builders were seen removing large quantities of earth from inside it just after the council refused planning permission for an extra storey to be built.

Residents believe a basement is being built underneath the shop and fear the work could cause it to collapse.

But speaking publicly for the first time about the row, Jamshed Jirfan, owner of the shop, said residents had got the wrong end of the stick.

He said: "We've been digging up the floor because outside on the road there was a pipe leaking into my property and all the water came inside.

"The floor was wrecked so we had to dig it up and repair the foundations.

"The neighbours can't actually see inside my shop so how do they know what we're doing?

"The council inspector came and didn't have a problem with what we were doing. They're coming back again when we've done the work but they said it was all fine."

He added that he hoped the shop would open in four or five weeks time.

Waltham Forest Council previously told the Guardian they were investigating the claims but could not comment further.

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