PEOPLE living by a building site say they want action taken to finish the job.

Residents in Winter Folly, Laindon, say builders Lovell have not worked on building ten new homes for the past year.

They say it has left their street looking like a building site. The two lanes on the carriageway have been reduced to one, while the end of the road has been blocked off by a gate.

Eric Callow, 75, chairman of Winter Folly Residents’ Association, who has fought a long-running campaign to get the new homes built, said: “The site looks like a mess and it’s a complete eyesore. I can’t believe no work has taken place for such a long period of time.

“Even the bin men find it difficult to do their collections each week. It’s a complete joke.

“We heard work had come to a halt because the company had run out of cash.

“Lovell needs to work with residents and keep us informed about what is happening.”

Lovell has a chequered history in the area.

In 2006, eight homes were discovered to have major structural problems just seven years after being built. They were torn down last year.

Lovell then secured planning permission for ten new homes.

Steve Coombs, Lovell’s regional director, said building work was in the pipeline for this year.

He added: “We are very willing to work with local residents to ensure there is as little disruption as possible to their day-to-day lives ahead of the commencement of construction of the units.”

Work on the homes is due for completion this year, and the company says it has not run out of funding to finish the project.