A NEIGHBOUR says he feels “conned” after a new block of flats which was supposed to be seven floors high was built taller than expected.

Simon Webb objected to plans to knock down the Winston Churchill Pub in The Broadway and turn it into a new block of flats, shops and restaurants.

But the 63-year-old was horrified when he realised the block, which is still being built, was actually eight storeys high.

Developers Higgins Homes changed the plans a number of times to turn a “plant room” on the roof into an “office area” – the eighth floor.

Mr Webb said: “There was a lot of fuss about the building going up at the time.

“I feel so irritated and feel this has shown contempt for the people of Debden.

“It is shocking to see the pub being demolished. There were loads of people opposed to the development and we are all outraged.

“I just feel conned because we were told that it was going to be seven storeys.

“They have not thought about the people of Debden, they are just trying to gentrify the area.”

The original plans were approved in 2014 after the pub closed down, but amendments were made in 2015 and 2016.

The new block will include 64 flats as well as shops and restaurants, and 64 parking spaces as well as a service yard.

But Mr Webb, who works at Epping Forest College, fears this will cause problems for people in the area and bring extra traffic with it.

He added: “I think it’s terrible. They obviously feel as though they do not have to worry about normal people.

“There will definitely be more traffic and it is likely to affect the local community in a bad way. It is really brazen. People are furious about it “Higgins feel as though they can do as they please. If I built an extension on my home and it was an inch out of place, they would come down on me like a tonne of bricks.”

Epping Forest District Council told the Guardian Series the plans were amended a number of times from the original planning permission with a “plant room” added onto the roof. This was then changed to become an “office area.”

A spokesman said: “It was always intended that there would be provision for this office space, the floor plans of which were shown in the original planning application. Some amendments to the original application were approved subsequently and we consulted people such as the town council as those took place”.

A spokesman for Higgins Homes said: “Landmark is and will continue to be constructed in strict compliance of relevant planning consents. The claim that an extra floor has been added in contravention of the approved planning permission is entirely without foundation ’’.