Homeowners have been offered lucrative deals by a developer who wants to demolish their houses and build an access road.

Taylor Wimpey has bought the pea fields behind Broomshaw Road in Barming and several residents have been visited by a solicitor offering up to 150% of the value of their home.

Based on that figure the company’s offer for a four-bedroom semi-detached home that sold in October for £360,000 would be about £540,000.

Letters have also been sent out as the house-building giant looks for the all important secondary access road which any potential development could hinge upon.

About 180 homes have been earmarked for the land between Broomshaw Road and Gallagher’s Quarry and those in Broomshaw Road and Rede Wood Road have been targeted.

Barming ward councillor Fay Gooch said: “I’m aware of Taylor Wimpey’s approach and, unfortunately, it is entitled to do this and it is common practice.

“After my conversations with the company last week it said it was not aware of any legal contracts between itself and any resident of Broomshaw Road or Rede Wood Road.

“They are yet to find anyone to take up their offer. In the long term the amount it pays to someone to buy their house for access, it doesn’t compare to the money it makes by selling houses.”

It is believed Taylor Wimpey would prefer to buy a detached home for a secondary access road to be made available for buses and emergency services.

However, a number of homeowners are adamant they will reject any deal, claiming the area would become yet another rat run to Hermitage Lane.

A resident in Rede Wood Road, who wished to remain anonymous, said she had been offered 133% of the market value of her home.

She said: “I had a solicitor turn up out of the blue. He just knocked on the door and said Taylor Wimpey want to bring a road through here and asked if I would be prepared to sell and I said no.

“I just lost my husband and it is like leaving him if I left this house.

"I think I made it quite clear I wasn’t prepared to move and he said he would come back and I told him there would be no point.

“We have all been keeping our fingers crossed that nobody agrees to sell. This road is too narrow.

“Taylor Wimpey will be making a fortune so it doesn’t matter whose lives it disrupts.

"All it is interested in is making money.”

A Taylor Wimpey spokesman said: “As the company controlling the land to the north of Rede Wood Road and Broomshaw Road, we are seeking to secure, via an option agreement, properties along either of these roads to provide a secondary/emergency access route if required to the proposed site.

“A property agent acting on Taylor Wimpey’s behalf has approached a number of homeowners to see if they would be willing to sell their property, though no deals have yet been concluded.”

A planning application for the new homes has not yet been submitted.