Neighbours slam academy

Kerry Davis-Head, one of the neighbours, said: "We feel that there are lots of elements of the work up to this point that neighbours have not been consulted on.

"But now we have been sent letters saying that it will be hired out for use in evenings up to about 10pm and at weekends.

"We will suffer from enough noise and traffic during the day, and a lot of people work from home, so in the evening, you want to be able to relax.

"But if they are using the rooftop sports pitches in the evenings, with the lights on, it is going to be a nightmare for the neighbours.

"The academy has been built too close to the houses around it, because the site it is on is just too small."

Residents in the roads around the academy already suffer from an influx of people when Chelsea FC are playing home games.

But they believe the effects of extra 1,100 students and their families, as well as out-of-hours users, could cause their house prices to drop.

Jo Sherrard, another of the neighbours, said: "House prices here have already dropped about £500,000, and places that have gone on the market just aren't selling.

"We moved here because it was quiet, but if we start getting late night meetings, weekend sports events, concerts and all the rest of it, the houses certainly won't sell.

"There seems to have been no consideration of the neighbours in any of this, and so we are left to just put up with the noise, traffic, invasion of privacy, and general degradation of the area."

Building firm Wates Construction assured the Chronicle that correct consultations with residents had been carried out before and during the planning and building process, and that the rental of the building for community use is still something that is being decided on.