A CLIVE Road resident claims he and his neighbours were misled by Redditch Council over a new development near their homes.

Graham Stokes, 67, said the luxury apartments being built in Clive Road were significantly different to those on a picture originally provided by the council's planning office showing what the development would look like.

The controversial application was first submitted in 2004 but rejected by the planning committee and a second application, which was approved, caused uproar among residents, who claimed they had not been consulted on the issue.

And now Mr Stokes, who lives opposite the development, says the buildings being constructed are nothing like the picture he was supplied with by the council.

"There's no buff bricks, no buff around the window, everything is plain," he said.

"And they've put in blue double glazed windows - it looks more like a prison than luxury apartments."

Mr Stokes said the apartments also directly overlooked his home so anybody who moved in there would be able to see into his house.

He added: "It takes away our privacy and that just adds to the problem.

''You want it to be pleasing to the eye and pleasing to people who want to live there but it's not - you try to keep your road nice and then you get somebody come in and do that.

"We feel completely let down and it has caused a lot of unhappiness."

Alan Gall, Redditch Council's planning enforcement officer, said: "The change in brick colour was classed as a minor variation which was dealt with and agreed by the planning officer."