ANGRY residents whose homes will be bulldozed to make way for a new estate claim they have been offered unfit replacements.

Basildon Council tenants in Mellow Purgess on the Five Links estate, Laindon, said the authority has revoked a deal to offer "like-for-like" alternatives.

Alan Richmond, 61, and Eileen Richmond, 58, are furious after being offered smaller two-bedroom accommodation to replace the three-bedroom house they've had for 27 years.

Mr Richmond said: "Eileen has arthritis of the spine and we have to sleep in separate bedrooms. My son will often stay over because he helps her out when I am not here, so he needs a room as well. If we are moved to a two-bedroom home where do they expect him to sleep?"

He said the couple had always been told they would receive a "like-for-like" replacement of three bedrooms since the regeneration proposals - which are the third phase of the estate rebuild - emerged in 2005.

He added: "All along we have been promised we will get three bedrooms, but nothing we have been shown is anywhere near acceptable."

Neighbour David Whisby, 72, who lives with wife Cynthia, said: "What we have been offered is not acceptable. They are much smaller with bathrooms and kitchens simply not big enough. Nothing prepared us for the state of disrepair and neglect we encountered when we were shown a property in Threshelford, Basildon."

Tony Ball, Tory cabinet member for housing, said he was aware of the issue and rehousing was subject to negotiation, however, he denied the Richmonds had ever been promised three bedrooms.

He said: "Like for like means if you have a house you will get a house and likewise with a flat. It does not guarantee the same number of bedrooms.

"Council policy is a couple are deemed to need only one bedroom and we are offering two. We asked for medical evidence to support the claim about separate bedrooms, but did not get any."