A Stokenchurch resident and his terminally ill wife claim their lives are being made hell by a building company.

Slade Road residents Robert Payne and his wife Linda, who has terminal cancer, say that house building company Persimmon Homes have made their lives “hell” for eight weeks, ever since they started building 37 houses and flats on the site of the former Stokenchurch County First School.

Mr and Mrs Payne, who have lived in Slade Road since 2013, say they suffer with trucks blocking their drive, loud noises at unsociable hours and mud making the roads dangerously slippery. 

And just yards from their fence, a double garage is being constructed, despite planning permission initially only being granted for a single garage.

Mr Payne said: “I think people should be paid compensation for this, but we deserve an apology from them at least.

 “There’s no doubt there will be damage to our house because of the vibrations to the foundations and the near-misses with lorries so close to our house. It’s only a matter of time before one hits our house.

“We’re going through absolute hell. It’s their duty to do the work as quietly as possible but they just don’t care at all. It’s non-stop, six days a week.

 “At 6.45am one morning they had a wacker plate outside and we thought the house was falling down. The house actually moves sometimes, it’s like an earthquake and we fear for our lives.”

Mr and Mrs Payne have been in constant contact with Wycombe District Council and Thames Valley Police about the matter and even held a meeting with neighbours and Persimmon Homes to try and find a resolution, to no avail.

Mr Payne says the whole experience has left him depressed and he is now taking medication.

“I need psychiatric help now because of this. I can’t sleep; the noise is in my head all the time. Linda sees the doctor all the time and they say the stress is not helping her and it makes me stressed worrying about her.

“I’m home all day looking after Linda. She’s had chemotherapy and she’s supposed to rest and it’s just impossible.

“They have 32 tonne trucks and articulated lorries coming in and out constantly. They’ve blocked our road up, covered it in mud and they just don’t seem to care.

“I just can’t understand how a company can treat residents like this. We’ve been treated so badly and I never thought I would see the day I would be treated like this. It seems like they can do what they like and make as much noise as they want.”

A Wycombe District Council spokesperson said: “We confirm that Mr Payne has been in almost daily contact with WDC. We have reminded the contractors that they should not work outside certain hours, and provided a noise metre to Mr Payne so that future noise can be monitored.

“The double garage that has been constructed close to Mr Payne’s boundary replaced a single garage which did have planning permission. Persimmon are cooperating with us to remedy the situation. The new garage has not been constructed closer to the boundary than the approved garage.

“We have also spoken to Persimmon directly about the behaviour of the contractor. As a result Persimmon homes attended a meeting with Mr Payne, which we also attended to discuss these matters.”

A spokesman for Persimmon Homes said: “We and the local environmental health officer have held a meeting with site neighbours where we have tried to address their concerns.

“As a result a party wall surveyor and boundary surveyor have been appointed to carry out a full report which will be shared.

“A road sweeper is on site every day and wheels are power washed as vehicles leave the site, and a traffic marshal is supervising vehicles until the access road is completed, which is due to happen at the end of the month.”