Travellers have taken over land earmarked for a huge and controversial building project.

Residents on Cherry Orchard Road, East Croydon noticed two caravans appear on Sunday just after 3pm on fenced off empty land cleared by developers ahead of construction of a 55-storey towerblock The Menta Tower.

By Monday the land was occupied by more than six caravans with residents complaining a huge pile of construction waste has been dumped and children have been seen openly defecating.

A neighbour who did not want to be named, for fear of reprisal said: "This is not the first time there have been problems. "For years there were empty council blocks there filled with drunks and drug-using squatters. I hate to stereotype but when you see a huge pile of rubbish appear immediately you do think the worse. There are campsites out there so why are they here?"

At 3pm on Monday a truck was seen entering the secured site, with a group of children operating the gates.

The site, on the corner of Cherry Orchard Road and Oval Road, has been empty for a year after Menta were granted permission to build the controversial block of flats, which will be the tallest residential block in the country.

A fellow neighbour said he noticed the travellers move in but had not experienced any problems.

He said: "If I’m completely honest I’d rather they were there than Menta."

Craig Marks, chief executive of Menta, said: “We were alerted on Monday morning, I have spoken with our lawyers and we are taking advice on how best to move them on. “When we took over the site there were problems with vermin antisocial behaviour and vandalism. We made the site secure but no matter what precautions you put in place if someone is determined to break in we can’t stop them.”