ANGRY Chandler's Ford residents are calling for a brick wall - which suddenly appeared in their leafy neighbourhood - to be reduced to rubble.

People living in Nichol Road are calling for civic chiefs to limit the size of a garden wall being built in their open plan residential street.

Eastleigh council planners have given the go-ahead for a 6ft-high brick wall to be built around a back garden at the top of the road where it joins Hocombe Road.

But locals claim they were not consulted about it and want it demolished. They fear that it could open the floodgates for similar walls - and ruin the character of the green area.

Laurence Hopper, who lives in Woodlands Close, said: "We didn't know anything about this until they started building it. Then it was too late to complain. I feel they have desecrated the area.

"This is an open plan estate and the homes have gardens. It's in a special policy area which I think should have helped to prevent this type of thing.

"I did collect a petition and got 25 names in an hour but the council said the decision could not be reversed so I stopped. But just about everybody in this road is opposed to the wall.

"Now I want to make sure this doesn't set a precedent. I will be keeping a close eye on future applications."

But local councillor Colin Davidovitz said: "Residents are signing a petition and have called on me to protest about this wall being built.

"It is completely out of keeping with the design of the road that has been laid out as an 'open plan' development and has remained so since it was built just over 40 years ago.

"Now, the council, without consultation with local councillors, has approved a plan that will entirely change the character of the road."

He added: "I am quite sure the planners ticked all the boxes on their rule book before approving this plan, but I only wish they had consulted local councillors before they passed this application. If they had, a better decision would have been made.

"Councillors do have a knowledge of the history of the area. They have a more intimate knowledge of how local residents want their locality to look and are accountable to them for the decisions that are made."

He pointed to a recent move by the borough's powerful executive Cabinet to make local area committees pay for expensive appeals which successfully overturn decisions by councillors made against officer advice.

He added: "If this is the sort of thing that is going to result, then residents had better watch out."

But a council spokesman said the decision on the wall was taken in accordance with the authority's agreed scheme of delegation to planning officers.

"A planning application for the brick wall on Nichol Road was received on December 9 last year and the application was advertised in the normal way.

"Letters were sent to all adjoining neighbours and, in addition, the proposal was advertised on the weekly planning list.

"No letters were received from neighbours and no interest was expressed by any other parties. The council's planning policy and design section also had no objection."

The spokesman said the house in question had a double frontage on Hocombe Road with a back garden facing Nichol Road and added: "A 6ft wall built to a good standard will provide privacy and discourage crime and antisocial behaviour which has occurred previously."