Residents have launched an official complaint over the handling of the recent planning application to develop the Chiswick War Memorial Homes complex.

Plans to double the number of properties on the Burlington Lane site for vulnerable and disabled ex-service personnel and their families were approved at the Sustainable Development Committee (SDC) in January, but residents believe Hounslow Council "steamrollered this application through".

The development will increase the number of dwellings to 36, demolishing and replacing two existing blocks with larger buildings and erecting a new residential block in one corner of the site.

Two more blocks, located in the centre, are to be refurbished and extended and there will also be extra parking and a residents' common room.

Rishad Talyarkhan, who lives opposite the war homes and is representing the objectors, has listed a series of issues for investigation in an eight-page letter to Mark Gilks, the council's chief executive.

Opposition from nearby residents is "almost total", according to Mr Talyarkhan, and is centred on the development destroying the streetscape, causing mature trees to be cut down and overdeveloping the Grove Park conservation area.

Mr Talyarkhan said: "We are not objecting to the redevelopment of the homes. We do object strongly to the implementation and to the approval process.

"The council ignored the valid objections of local residents and taxpayers and tolerated a deliberate avoidance of consultation from the developer."

Other complaints in the letter, which has been copied to local government ombudsman Tony Redmond and Brentford and Isleworth MP Ann Keen, claim that the reports presented to the Conservation Area Committee and SDC were unfair and biased and there was failure to address many of the grounds on which a previous application was refused including the site falling within the conservation area. Mr Talyarkhan says the conservation officer was not even consulted on the revised plans.

Residents also accuse the council of applying double standards when reviewing planning applications, mentioning a recent application for Burlington Lane/Station Parade which was approved on the basis that it was built with a condition that trees were saved.

Mr Talyarkhan said: "These are substantive issues. Hounslow Council must ensure that democracy is respected with proper adherence to planning guidelines and processes.

"The council has shown itself only too ready to ignore the concerns of Grove Park residents."

A Hounslow Council spokesman confirmed that a formal complaint regarding the report on the Chiswick War Memorial Homes application had been received and is being processed through the council's complaints procedure.