"We are considerate constructors," so proclaims the notice on the hoardings surrounding the new Sainsbury's store in Staplehurst.

But the Seadon family who live next door and have had to put up with swearing workmen, dust and noise would beg to differ.

"They are anything but," said young mum Leah Seadon, who has had to try to shield her young family from the foul language emanating from the site.

She said: "The language the workmen use to each other is shocking, and of course because they are competing with the noise of the heavy machinery, they shout.

"Several times, I've had to call across and say 'hey, do you know there are two small children this side of the fence?'"

But there have been other problems too.

She said: "One day they repainted the hoardings around the site in green gloss, but didn't put up any warning signs. Subsequently my four-year-old Magnus touched them and got covered in paint."

"Then there's been the dust.

"Allegedly to save on vehicle movements to and from the site, they spent the summer grinding up the concrete from the foundations of the previous buildings that were there to re-use.

"As a result our house was covered in dust every day. We had to buy a jet hose and wash down the windows, the decking and even the flowers every week."

Mrs Seadon lives in Station Road with husband Ryan, son Magnus and 15-month-old daughter Sloane.

She said: "We bought the house 11 years ago and it wasn't long after that talk of a Sainsbury's store started." (A planning application was first submitted in 2011.)

"A chap called Barry from their PR company came round to talk to us.

"He seemed very reasonable and he warned even then that of course there would be dust, but he promised the constructors would come round regularly to wash our windows - that never happened."

Mrs Seadon said: "There have been other problems: when they first put up the flood-lights they had them playing directly onto our house.

"They moved them after we complained, but do they have no common sense?"

Mrs Seadon also alleges that throughout the summer the company frequently worked beyond their advised hours - which are 8am to 7pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturday, with no Sunday working.

The building site

She said: "They would often start at 7am and sometimes work till 8pm. If we phoned up, there was always an excuse - oh there's been a water leak or something, some emergency. It wore thin after a while."

Sainsbury's at first denied that was the case issuing a statement saying "since work on-site began, working hours on weekdays have been, and will continue to be, restricted to 8am until 6pm."

But the company later conceded: "The external working hours are 8am to 6pm on weekdays. Workers do begin to arrive on-site and prepare for the day slightly earlier than this, but our contractor Base Build has confirmed that external works do not begin before 8am.

"Although they endeavour to finish all work by 6pm, this is a complex construction project and Base Build has a responsibility to ensure that the site is left in a safe and satisfactory manner.

"Although very rare, we understand that unforeseen circumstances can sometimes mean that the team has to stay on-site past 6pm, but Base Build has advised that they always ensure the required work is completed as quickly as possible if this does occur."

Now the Seadons and other neighbours have been notified by Sainsbury's that the contractors intend to work seven days a week in future including till 4pm on Sundays.

Sainsbury’s said it was committed to opening the new store in the spring next year and was "working hard to make sure that the construction is completed efficiently by its contractors, while taking measures to minimise impacts on local residents wherever possible."

The company said "very few issues" had been raised by residents, and where they had the company had "responded swiftly."

The firm pointed out that the hours attached to the grant of planning permission were not a legally binding condition, but were for guidance only.

It said that the government had released new guidance in May this year, in an attempt to stimulate an economy hit by Covid, that local authorities should allow construction work to continue until 9pm, Monday to Saturday. Sainsbury's had not taken up that opportunity.

A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said: “We understand it can be difficult to live next to a construction site, but our contractors have been doing everything they can to minimise impact on our neighbours."

Mrs Seadon said: "It's just so inconsiderate. Because of lockdown, we're unable to get away from the noise at all.

"My husband is having to work from home and I'm at home looking after my youngest.

"But at least we've had the weekend to look forward to for a bit of peace. Now we won't even have that."

Maidstone Borough Council confirmed: "The construction times on the original planning permission were only advisory as this is generally not a matter covered by planning legislation."

The council said: "If any residents consider that noise nuisance is being caused they can report this to the council’s community protection team to investigate via this link."

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