RESIDENTS are demanding urgent action after a £17m student digs scheme went ahead apparently in contradiction of a key council condition.

When Durham County Council granted developer Connislow permission to build 223 student bedrooms on the former Fred Henderson garage, on Ainsley Street, Durham, in December 2012, councillors ruled no work should begin until a management plan for the four-storey accommodation complex had been agreed.

However, despite no such plan having been agreed, work on The Village @ The Viaduct has not only begun but around 90 students have already moved in.

Residents now want action from the council.

Roger Cornwell, chair of the Crossgate Community Partnership, accused the council of bending over backwards to accommodate developers who were “just stringing them along”.

“Local residents have endured a year of disturbance and disruption during building works and it beggars belief that the council has allowed this development to open without the promised management plan,” he said.

Neville’s Cross county councillor Nigel Martin accused the council of bending the rules.

“No wonder local residents are getting angrier about the situation in the city,” he added.

Stuart Timmiss, the council’s head of planning and assets, said it had considered and refused two site management plans.

“We are aware that partial occupation of the development has occurred since the submission of these applications and we are in discussions with the applicant regarding non-compliance with planning conditions.

“We will consider all options as we move forward,” he said.

Nick Smith, managing director of Universal Student Living, which runs The Village, said the council had previously indicated it was happy discussions were progressing on all outstanding conditions and development could commence.

It was only later that “it became clear the council’s interpretation of an element of the management plan was different to the developer’s”, he continued.

Mr Smith said discussions were ongoing with the council to resolve the issue.

Mr Smith said the site was well managed, there had been no complaints from neighbours and the development was occupied by a wonderful group of students who were studying hard and had no desire to upset their neighbours.

Anger over the spread of student accommodation is growing in the city. More than 300 new beds have opened in recent months and planning permission is in place for another 2,000.

Last week, permission was refused to convert the Kingslodge Hotel, near The Village, into 57 student rooms.

Having completed his examination in public of the County Durham Plan last week, planning inspector Harold Stephens is now considering a proposed new council policy on student accommodation, but that has been condemned as toothless by campaigners.