A couple fear their garden could be flooded after a ditch at the rear of their property was altered by a housing development.

Moat Homes is seeking retrospective approval for 27 houses and eight flats it is building at the rear of Seager Road, Sheerness.

Drainage taking water away from the homes comes out through a culvert into a ditch directly behind Shirley and Jim Hutchinson’s home in Beckley Road, Sheerness.

They said the ditch had been made shorter to allow construction vehicles to access the development and they are also concerned the same vehicles have crushed and blocked one of the drainage pipes.

The couple are worried the ditch will not be able to cope with the demands of the 35 homes and could lead to flooding when it rains.

Mr Hutchinson, who used to work in construction, said: “You wouldn’t have got away with things like this in my day.” He added the fence at the rear of his garden was now starting to slip away into the ditch.

A representative from the Lower Medway Internal Drainage Board visited the site last month to inspect the watercourse and found that developer Moats Homes would need consent for the changes. It has objected to the application.

At a planning meeting on April 2, Swale council’s major projects officer said the culverts would be removed and the ditches re-instated.

A site meeting over the Seager Road homes is due to take place today (Wednesday).