Proposals to demolish an old nurses’ home in the heart of Hampstead and build a seven-storey block of flats have been attacked as “terrifying” by a concerned neighbour.

Plans to bulldoze the New End Nurses Home, build 14 flats and carve out a large underground car park big enough for 25 cars have been lodged with Camden.

But worried residents claim the controversial development would blemish old Hampstead and pose a dangerous flooding risk as the deep underground excavations could divert vital underground water flows.

The area’s narrow roads will struggle to cope with the lorries ferrying heavy loads of cement and soil to and from the site, they added.

Jane Henderson who lives in nearby Hampstead Square, said: “This is a tiny road right in the heart of Hampstead and near three primary schools. These lorries will thunder along, creating a lot of noise. I don’t think people will be able to live in that area let alone teach.

“They are digging down well below the level of the foundations of the current buildings and well beyond the footprint.

“This makes digging down below a Georgian house look like child’s play. This is on an unprecedented scale. It is terrifying.”

Gordon Maclean, chairman of the Heath and Hampstead Society’s planning committee, said the organisation planned to object to the plans which had “various problems”.

The plans to dig down into the sandy soil common in Hampstead, means that basement excavations carry a high flooding risk, he said.

The plans are due to be heard by the council on December 15.

Agents for the development were not available to comment as we went to press.