Furious residents are taking action over what they call a lack of respect by Kent County Council.

A group of homeowners from Highfield Road, Halfway, are angry about the construction work at the Isle of Sheppey Academy’s east site in Minster Road – which their properties back on to.

Resident Colin Friend says there is a four-metre high mound of excavated soil piled close to the boundary fences belonging to him and his neighbours.

The 76-year-old is concerned not only about the noise and the fact this will be his view for at least two years, but also about the risk of it toppling into gardens, especially when there are earth-moving vehicles on top of it.

Their complaint is not about the project itself, to transform the former Minster College site, but the lack of notification and consultation they have had from KCC.

Mr Friend also believes the soil could have been piled elsewhere on fields within the school grounds where it would not have interfered with residents.

He called a meeting to discuss the problem with neighbours, and he has lodged a complaint against a KCC planning officer after she pulled out of attending at the last minute.

This meant there was no one from the council’s planning department to answer questions from residents.

However, there were representatives of the contractor Kier Construction present.

Mr Friend said: “Everyone at the meeting said it was absolutely disgusting there was no one there from planning.

“We knew nothing about the mounds of soil and they are still putting it there and dumping it almost against our back fence.

“It’s going up and up and it’s way above the height of my bungalow – we are all up in arms about it.

“If they had gone over the other side of the field it wouldn’t have interfered with anybody.

“It’s the lack of consideration to all the residents and completely bad planning.

“We are not arguing about the school but we think it should have done with a bit more thought.”

A Kier spokesman said: “We have already had a number of discussions with residents concerned about the levels of reclaimed soil on site.

“This is an ongoing piece of work and we expect to start reducing them over the course of next week.

“Once completed, the soil will then be temporarily landscaped prior to its reuse in the final phase of the project.”

A KCC spokesman said: “As this is not subject to a planning condition, it was more appropriate that Kier attended to answer questions.

“KCC was represented at the meeting but this was not a planning officer.

“The planning team had already responded to residents’ concerns about the height of the heap and worked with Kier to reduce the size by half.”