Marie O'Brien, 46, fears a proposal to develop the Grade II listed Linden House and build a two-storey extension by developers Insurance Marketing and Development Limited (IMD) will invade her privacy and affect the look of the whole street.

Miss O'Brien said: "I am overwhelmed by this, I just can't believe it.

"This is a really pretty cottage and it is my home and this would be totally detrimental."

Miss O'Brien spoke out against the plans by IMD Ltd, who are developing the £8 million office suite at Linden Square at the top of King's Road, at a meeting of Bury St Edmunds Town Council last week.

Architects Camal have drawn up plans to demolish the 1960s extension to the original building and build a two-storey replacement at the back of the original site – directly next to Miss O'Brien's garden.

She said: "This proposed building is overbearing and will dominate my cottage.

"I am not against business in general but I am against this unsympathetic extension and its impact on the sight lines of the whole street."

Miss O'Brien, who has lived in King's Road for three years, said she was afraid the development would lead to increased traffic in the street, extra noise and disruption to neighbours' lives.

She said: "In King's Road we have put up with quite a lot of development recently but this feels like a step too far.

"There seems to be no thought going to the neighbours who have to put up with it."

The town council recommended refusal of the project, which will go before St Edmundsbury Borough Council's development control committee.

A spokesman for Pigeon Investments, who are constructing the Linden Square building, said: "The design is in line with current planning guidelines."


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