'A noose around our neck': Residents driven out by UK's largest road tunnel

The Lower Thames Crossing will become the largest road tunnel in the UK and is described by National Highways as "the most significant road project in a generation". But what about the people whose lives it will disrupt?

Surrounded by rolling fields and a close-knit network of neighbours, Jackie Thacker's home in Orsett, Essex, provided the serene location she dreamt of enjoying retirement in.

Yet one by one, those neighbours have packed their bags and left, never to return to the homes they once loved.

The 75-year-old now faces a stark choice: sell up or live next to a major road.

The government is pressing ahead with plans for the Lower Thames Crossing, a 14.5-mile (23km) road linking Essex and Kent via two tunnels underneath the river.

It is due to be built by 2032 at a cost of up to £10bn.

But for those living on the route, confirmed by the government on Tuesday, that ambition holds less attraction.

"It's been like a noose around our neck, ever since the route was chosen," says Ms Thacker, who has lived in her house for 38 years.

Ms Thacker, a grandmother, has spent most of the past four decades enjoying village life: walking to the pub, playing petanque and visiting the local cricket club.

She becomes tearful while explaining how everything she loves about her life could soon be flattened, sold off or turned into a building site.

"Ever since we've been here, we've had wonderful neighbours," Ms Thacker says.

"But now the ones we've known for a long time have had to move out due to the pressures brought on by knowing the road was going through.

"It scared the life out of them, so they've moved on now."

It is not the happy end she envisaged for her twilight years.

"It's breaking my heart," she admits. "I'm stressed beyond belief.

"I could see myself being here until life's end and having a peaceful life's end, but it's not going to be peaceful anymore."

For more than 60 years, the Dartford Crossing has been the only Thames road crossing east of London.

Yet it is now used by more traffic than it was ever designed for, instead creating a bottleneck that frequently blocks up the M25.

By providing an alternative route, linking the A2 and M2 in Kent with the A13 and M25 in Thurrock, it is hoped the Lower Thames Crossing will cut traffic there by 20%.

About 2.6 miles (4.2km) of the route will be underground, with northbound and southbound tunnels running next to each other beneath the Thames.

They are expected to be dug east of Gravesend in Kent and to the west of East Tilbury in Essex.

But National Highways has been accused of hoovering up everything in its wake to clear the path for the new road.

So far, it has spent more than £1.2bn in planning and land costs.

The authority says 76 residential properties are on land it needs for the route, 58 of which have already been purchased through a voluntary scheme.

A total of 35 will be demolished, with the rest affected by construction. It insists each purchase has been "robustly scrutinised".

Alan Rouse, who has lived in the same five-bedroom house in Orsett for 25 years, was among those urged to sell up.

"The whole thing is a complete mess from start to finish," he sighs.

The 76-year-old was in the middle of building a property for his son in the garden when he got a knock on the door.

"They said 'Don't carry on building it - we're going to knock your house down,'" he explains.

That was in 2018. Five years later, Mr Rouse took another call.

He was told his house was no longer needed.

But Mr Rouse had already accepted a £1.2m deal from National Highways, of which £1m has landed in his bank account.

He has now been given an ultimatum: keep the money and leave his home by November, or buy the property back from National Highways and stay.

"They should've thought of this. They've jumped in too early and bought properties they don't need," Mr Rouse says.

"But if this new road is going to go across the top of my house, we don't want to be here. It's upsetting for the whole family.

"I've sat in this mess for seven years now. Who makes that seven years up?"

Concerns have also been raised by campaigners, who fear ancient woodland will be destroyed when works begin in 2026.

For Tony and Leigh Hughes, who have lived in South Ockendon for 34 years, the potential damage to wildlife has only worsened their grief.

National Highways has promised that 80% of the crossing will run through either a tunnel, cutting or embankment to blend it into the landscape.

It also wants to make seven "green bridges" to provide safer crossing points for people and wildlife.

One of those bridges falls 75m (250ft) from Mr and Mrs Hughes's home.

Mrs Hughes fears both residents and wildlife will be disrupted while it is constructed.

"There will be times where the traffic is 24/7. We will not be able to get to our property and the road will be closed at weekends," she says.

"It's very, very sketchy on what our life is going to be like.

"It will affect people coming to our house. Who would want to visit us? It's a horrible, daunting thought that I could go out shopping and not be able to get home."

The couple have been offered a deal for their house, but they believe it is 20% under its market value.

They says they feel trapped as their property is no longer an attractive proposition for any buyer.

Mrs Hughes continues: "It is a very inhumane situation to be in as we can't sell, other than to National Highways at a knocked-down price."

Her husband, 56, adds: "It's beautiful here and we never intended on leaving.

"Even though we own our property, we have no control over the situation at all.

"We have to find a cash buyer that's willing to buy a lovely cottage next to a motorway and I'm sorry, but those buyers are very, very few and far between."

In a statement to the BBC, National Highways insists its landmark project will "improve journeys and bring significant benefits" to the region.

However, a spokesman admits there will be an impact on properties along the route.

"Through a comprehensive programme of consultation we have been able to significantly reduce the number affected by almost 70%, and reached voluntary agreements with many," he says.

"Following confirmation of our planning consent this week we will be speaking again to impacted property owners about next steps."

But what is next for those set to have their lives uprooted?

"We don't know where we'll be in five years," says Mr Hughes. "I do know this area won't be as beautiful as it is now."

A tearful Ms Thacker adds: "I just can't visualise moving. I love the place so much and I think moving would be too stressful."

As for Mr Rouse, he concludes: "I've got nowhere to go, but I don't want to live here with this big road going over my house.

"Highways don't care though, do they? They're not worried; they just want their road in."

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