Furious South Street residents living opposite the town's Somerfield's delivery entrance are demanding something is done after one of the store's vehicles crashed into a house. Tony Cammarata, 23, had just finished redecorating his living room before a home delivery van crashed into the front of his house.

Bricks were dislodged, the window frame cracked and the skirting board moved, preventing his front door from opening.

He said: "I am angry that for starters no-one came and told me. I arrived home Friday night to see my house trashed, just after decorating.

"There was no note through the door to say what had happened and since they admitted it I haven't heard from them."

It was after Mr Cammarata went to the store and saw one of the delivery vans with a smashed tail-light that the driver came forward the next day.

Tony added: "My insurance company is dealing with it but I haven't received one letter from Somerfield's. It's not the first time they have hit my house. My lamp has been knocked off before.

"Other people down here have had their houses or cars hit. I can guarantee everyone's had some sort of problem with them."

Two years ago Peter Reveillon had to re-render the front of his South Street home when a Somerfield's articulated lorry smashed into it.

He said: "The lorry was reversing and the cabin went into the house. There just isn't enough space. Nobody's happy with them."

Jill James another resident said that many of the lorries arrive outside agreed the hours between 7am and 9pm.

She said: "The whole situation is coming to a crescendo because it's such a narrow road.

"The lorries rev up outside our bedroom windows late at night, it's a nightmare. The noise is phenomenal. If the staff car park was not full the lorries could turn round there but instead turn down our street and smash into cottages.

"The solution is blatantly obvious, it hurts. They are trying to mix Victorian Brentwood with articulated lorries and it doesn't work."

"It's appalling. They spent £2million on refurbishment yet there seems to be no consideration to residents. A solution has to be found because it's just not acceptable."

Alison Birkett from Somerfield's said: "The problem with Mr Cammarata's house is being dealt with as soon as possible and we apologise for the delay.

"The van driver backed into Mr Cammarata's wall and that's going through the process of the insurers.

''This problem needs to be looked into and we will try to prevent it happening in future."

Dave Marchant, director of technical and contract services and deputy chief executive of Brentwood Borough Council, said: "We are aware of the difficulty in South Street and have been trying to work with Somerfield's to resolve that."

Worry wall: Resident Tony Cammarata inspects the damage caused by a delivery wagon to his newly decorated South Street home.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.