There are fears schoolchildren and train users will be put in danger by lorries reversing down a narrow country lane to access a new housing development.

The small track, off Dover Road in Sandwich, is typically only used by farm vehicles or people on their way to the town’s railway station, as a way of reaching platform 2 without using a footbridge.

But over the past two months, trucks have been reversing down the lane – owned by Network Rail – in order to reach a construction site.

Eight homes are being built on the land, but as the plot is so small, the lorries cannot turn around at the end of the track, so instead reverse down it.

With a blind bend halfway down the track, there are concerns for the safety of those who walk down it to reach the station, including schoolchildren and mobility scooter users.

There is also confusion as to why a nearby road, which is also off Dover Road and across a bridge, could not be used to access the building site.

Sandwich resident Paul Bean, who uses the track to reach his farmland, fears pedestrians could suddenly be met by reversing lorries.

He said: “The development site is very small, so they can’t turn around in it. So they’re reversing construction vehicles around a blind corner.

“People with disability scooters, bicycles, or hundreds of school kids could suddenly be meeting a reversing construction vehicle.

“I’m not sure why the bridge isn’t used instead to reach the site, to avoid people.

“I’ve contacted my local MP, disability charities, local councillors - no one seems to be able to do anything or that interested.

“The safest way would be to use their own entrance so construction vehicles aren’t using Network Rail’s road.”

The chaos along the lane was predicted by residents before work even began.

Prior to the planning application being granted permission, residents took to Dover District Council’s planning portal to express their concerns, with six objections registered.

One of them, M.P Wilkinson commented: “This track that would be used to access this proposed development is the sole means of access to our agricultural land.

“The track is about four metres wide, barely enough for modern farm machinery, with a blind bend and no passing places.

“Any extra traffic would cause major difficulties, as once off the main road, there is no choice but to keep going forward, as it would be extremely dangerous to reverse large vehicles, especially considering the bend and the number of pedestrians using the track to the station.

“The use of the track to serve eight new properties would generate more vehicle movements, including service vehicles. We do not believe that it would be safe for pedestrians if this development is allowed to use the track as its main access.”

Christopher Alexander Balfour also commented: “When I purchased my property in 2016 we were made aware of plans to develop land at the rear of 10 Dover Road.

“At the time, the proposed build was for far fewer dwellings a fair distance away, and there was no mention of the removal of very well-established trees.

“Since then, there have been several applications for the land, which has each time grown in size, and should this current plan be approved, we would be looking at brick walls where currently we have beautiful lime trees.

“I have no problem with the land being developed, providing the quality of my living environment and visual amenity is not compromised.”

The proposed development submitted by 10 Dover Road Ltd for the 1.1 acre site will feature a mix of eight two-storey houses, including one one-bedroom, three two-bedroom and four three-bedroom houses.

Nine parking spaces are also proposed under the development. Aside from one disabled space, the car parking spaces are planned for land close to Dover Road, and not immediately next to the new homes, so homeowners will not need to regularly use the narrow track.

Network Rail has confirmed they are continuing to investigate the use of their road.

A spokesperson said: “Safety is our priority, and so we’re naturally concerned by these reports, especially given that passengers using Sandwich station need to use the area to access one of the platforms.

“This is a private road on railway land, and not one designated as a public highway. We’re looking into the specific issues at this site and will provide a further update shortly.”