A SOUTHAMPTON construction company has lost its appeal to keep vehicles at its city base, after complaints were raised by neighbours.

“Vibrating” homes, near misses, noise, and damage to cars were just some of the issues tabled by St Deny’s residents, who called on the council to take action against McNicholas Construction.

Roads, which weren’t designed to be used by heavy vehicles, were also damaged.

Kent Road resident, Joanne Gardner said: “I see a lot of lorries go up and down, so I worry about insurance. It gets very busy. Cars, and lorries fly up and down here. I have a little boy.”

Southampton City Council chiefs responded by issuing an enforcement notice in December 2017 to the Kent Road-based company giving them three months to comply. The authority said that the use of the land to store vehicles was in contravention of planning permission for the site.

However, the firm disputed this and appealed the decision.

The firm which has since been bought out by the Kier Group was told to remove all heavy vehicles and plant machinery from its base, after the appeal was dismissed. According to Kier they have worked to maintain a positive relationship with the local community.

The Planning Inspectorate, who processed the appeal, did however extend the compliance time from three to nine months.

In its report, it was found that the appeal failed on all grounds that the firm noted bar one – regarding the time of compliance.

Councillor John Savage, chair of the authority’s planning committee – and member for the concerned Portswood ward, said: “This is a victory for the local community in St Denys.

“The site was never intended to be used as it is now, with hundreds of heavy vehicle movements a week through narrow residential roads.

“We’ve been pushing for this for a long time and I’m really pleased for the people living locally.”

David Henning a spokesman for Kier said: “Following an enforcement notice from Southampton City Council, we are working to identify suitable alternatives.

“Under the terms of the notice, we will continue to operate from Kent Road until October 2019 which will allow us to fulfil our project commitments and carry out a demobilisation period whilst continuing to maintain neighbourly relations with the community.”