Eltham residents have clashed with the Royal Borough of Greenwich council's over plans to build on the historic Rochester Club in Eltham.

Residents have been angered by the council's plans to demolish the Rochester Club on Rochester Way and use the site to build houses.

The council recently bought back the leasehold following the property being illegally used as a hostel housing 60 people, and are planning to use the site to build 30 homes and a small pub.

Spencer Drury, leader of the Greenwich Conservatives, has accused the council of trying to sneak through building plans on the site without consulting residents in a report from the Director of Housing published on December 2, and labelled them as "disgraceful".

He said: "The Labour Council obviously has no intention of listening to residents, the initial closure of the club was a completely undemocratic, unilateral decision.

"Now the council is trying to sneak through the employment of an architect to design houses for the site, hiding the fact by not including the Rochester Way site anywhere in the title or body of the report."

The previous leaseholder of the land stated that the Social Club was "an enterprise that has been trading poorly for a number of years with regular complaints of anti-social behaviour and traffic congestion."

John Hammett, 59, who was brought up in the Rochester Way area has seen generations of his family use the club over the years.

He said: "I went there as a teenager and four generations of my family used the Club for family parties, weddings and funerals.

"The club has served the community very well, and I am very sad that the Council, for no reason that I can see, are still pushing ahead with it closing down."

A spokesperson for Greenwich Royal Borough, said: "With some 15,000 people on the Housing Register and increasing numbers of families facing homelessness through the cost of rising rents in the Private Rented Sector, it is a high priority for the Council to develop affordable homes wherever we can - including on sites such as this one, that are directly owned by the Council.

"There will be consultation on the proposals, and once the scheme is put forward for planning permission there will be a further formal consultation period."

The spokesperson also said that Councillor Denise Hyland, leader of Greenwich Council, has written to Councillor Drury to reaffirm the Council's commitment to full consultation with local residents.