VILLAGERS who objected to plans to build 100 new homes on the outskirts of Lowestoft have now sent an official complaint to the local government ombudsman.

VILLAGERS who objected to plans to build 100 new homes on the outskirts of Lowestoft have now sent an official complaint to the local government ombudsman.

Before permission was granted for the development off Ullswater, in Carlton Colville, people living nearby said that the access roads were not suitable for lorries and construction vehicles.

Now residents have sent a formal complaint to the local government ombudsman about the way in which Waveney District Council made the decision to grant planning permission for the 70 houses and 30 flats, being built by Persimmon Homes, in autumn last year.

As soon as work on the site started last week traffic problems began because the large lorries could not get round the narrow residential streets which lead to the plot.

Nick Jack, who lives on Ullswater, said: 'We don't have enough off-road parking spaces and the lorries going to the site cannot fit round past our cars. We've seen trucks going up on pavements, over grass verges and narrowly missing cars. It's becoming really dangerous.'

He added: 'The whole point is that the main reason we objected to the plans is because the roads are inadequate - surely we have proved that.'

As well as objecting on the grounds of poor access to the site, the complaint to the ombudsman also says that Waveney Council's original site visit was carried out from Swallowfields, not Ullswater, and that requirements from Suffolk Wildlife Trust have not been added as planning conditions.

Jon Gibbs, director of Persimmon Homes Anglia, said: 'We apologise for the disruption caused to residents surrounding our development in Carlton Colville due to the construction traffic on the roads and we are working with the local community to devise a system that is beneficial for all parties involved.'

A Waveney District Council spokesman declined to comment.