A Muswell Hill building site has been abandoned for nearly two months after the builders went “AWOL”.

The site, Tetherdown Hall in the Fortis Green conservation area, has laid dormant since mid-August, even though it was supposed to open as the latest branch of a London-wide nursery chain in September.

Before the work stopped, neighbours had complained to Haringey Council because work was taking place in the early morning, evenings and on Saturdays, and the council was forced to step in order to keep the building work within approved times.

Tetherdown Hall, which played host to a small community nursery when it was owned by the United Reform Church opposite, was bought by the London Nursery group – and was slated to open last month.

Neighbour Athena Pavlou told the Ham&High: “The junction of Tetherdown, Queen’s Avenue and Fortis Green Road is now a noisy building site with ongoing major work to the hall – previously a well-used community building, sold by the church owners for a paltry sum to a private business.”

Another neighbour, Laura Phillips, added: “It looked liked the builders were under a lot of pressure to get the work finished. We repeatedly complained to the council about work when they shouldn’t have been.”

A third neighbour said: “Tetherdown Hall is a massive, massive building and a few weeks ago the builders just walked out. It’s hard to tell why.”

Fortis Green ward councillor Sakina Chernot told the Ham&High: “Like everyone else I am concerned that the builders at Tetherdown Hall appear to have gone AWOL mid-project – leaving the building with no roof whilst the scaffolding and tarpaulin are towering over the local landscape, including residential properties.

“This is really unsatisfactory and I will continue to keep an eye on this.”

Osborne and Collins Limited, a building firm whose signage still adorns Tetherdown Hall, declined to comment when approached by the Ham&High, as did representatives of the London Nursery group.

A spokesperson for Haringey Council said: “With regards to Tetherdown Hall, the council has no influence over the build-time, but can control the hours of work, as it is doing.”