Concerns in Gedney Hill about the state of land next to a former pub have been raised for the second time

Complaints about the state of a building plot near the former Red Lion pub in Gedney Hill have been raised for the second meeting running.

Part of the site has become a caravan pitch, despite planning permission having been granted for a two-storey house there 18 months ago.

During a meeting at the Memorial Hall on Monday, villager Phil Andrews told parish councillors that an electricity generator and gas cylinder being used by a family living in the caravan was having a "detrimental impact" on the village.

Mr Andrews said: "I'm living with it on a daily basis and whilst I absolutely accept that someone has bought the land, it's affecting my happiness.

"I'm finding it of concern that the family is still using a generator for electricity and there's also a concern that there's a gas cylinder next to a public footpath.

"I think it's completely inappropriate to have it there, given the potential that if somebody walks by and throws a cigarette onto the ground next to it, it would go up in an explosion.

"I was hopeful that someone from South Holland District Council's building services department could come and independently assess the installation as to its safety.

"But when I contacted the council, I was more or less told that the family could do what they liked at the site."

Complaints about items, including bed mattresses, left outside the caravan were previously raised by villagers during a parish council meeting in July.

Mr Andrews said: "I'm happy to cut the man who lives at the site some slack as it's his land, even though the state of it is having a visually detrimental impact on the village.

"Most people who get permission to build houses can't dig their feet in and get started quick enough.

"But in this case, there appears to be no sign of that, except for cluttering and other stuff that can be seen at the site.

"Surely if there was some contravention of building regulations, I'd have a number of routes that I could explore."

Parish council chairman Coun Ken James told Mr Andrews: "If you feel it's a concern, we can talk to the district council's environmental health department.

"But on the planning side of things, we can do nothing."