A Sittingbourne pensioner says developers were “crazy” to build houses at Kemsley Fields.

Ninety-year-old Victoria Pryor spoke out after it was revealed that residents at 37 houses on the estate have been told they have subsidence issues even though the buildings are only seven years old.

Three homes on the estate are to be demolished because builders failed to lay proper foundations.

One couple, who paid £230,000 for their property, have been rehomed at the site while their original three-bed semi is knocked down and rebuilt.

Victoria, a retired magistrate, of Canberra Gardens, said she had every sympathy for the furious homeowners, but news of their domestic despair did not surprise her.

She said: “I remember playing on the land which is now Kemsley Fields as a 14-year-old and it was nothing but a bog. Sometimes, the water was so deep you’d have to wear wellingtons.

“The depth of the water depended on whether the nearby paper mill pumped it out for its own use.

“But the houses have been built on an underground stream, which would often rise to the surface.

When I read about the cracking problem in the paper, I expected something like this.

“I saw the ground being developed about 10 years ago and thought they were mad, crazy to build there.”

Construction at Kemsley Fields began in 2005 under the Bryant Homes brand of Taylor Woodrow.

In 2007, the company merged with George Wimpey to form Taylor Wimpey.

Residents are jointly taking legal action against the housing firm, claiming corners were cut when Bryant Homes built the properties.

A Taylor Wimpey spokesman said it was aware of its customers’ issues.

He said: “We are working with the residents and with the National House-Building Council to resolve these matters as quickly as practicably possible.”

Victoria moved to Staplehurst Road, Sittingbourne, from France in 1938. In 1977 she received a British Empire Medal for her voluntary work, which included 25 years’ service as a town magistrate.

Victoria, who has a daughter Francesca, 61, and two grandchildren, said: “As a child, splashing about in the water at Kemsley Fields got us filthy, but it was fun.

“But for the people whose houses are sinking, the situation is drastic and heartbreaking – something has to be done.”