Fences put up in a nature reserve which could be used for a new housing development have worried neighbours.

But the owner of the land said it’s purely a safety measure and nothing to do with proposals to build hundreds of flats and houses on railway sidings running from Rodbourne Road to Wootton Bassett Road.

When workers for Housing England were putting up railings around a culvert which carries the River Ray under the railway line behind Newburn Crescent and Dean Street, people living nearby were fearful this could be the first step towards using the land for flats and houses, and driving away the wildlife.

The work was in view of Stuart Campbell’s house.

He said: “We were worried because that area is a wildlife reserve really. We see all sorts of things, deer and otters and badgers.

“We wondered what it was all about.”

Many people who in the area are against the plans proposed by One Swindon to use the embankment for a mixture of more than 360 houses and flats on the south side of the railway line.

The land is owned by Homes England and the public body said the work was simply for health and safety and not intended to deter wildlife or prepare for a housing plan.

A spokesman said: “We have installed a 1.2m steel two-rail fence around the existing headwall on the southern bank of the site.

"This is necessary for the health and safety of anyone accessing the site, including Network Rail staff, to protect against a drop into water from more than four metres.

“The work has been completed in consultation with our ecological consultants, who have advised that the fence does not block the culvert or disturb the ground and therefore there is no direct or indirect impact on otters or other wildlife, nor did it include any destruction of habitat.

“The installation of the fence has no connection to any proposed housing development and is purely to protect against possible injury.”

A formal application has not been lodged by One Swindon but its proposals can be seen at swindonsidings.co.uk.

Scores of people attended a public consultation event held at the West End Bowls Club nearby in December 2019 – and the majority of opinion seems to be against the plan.