NEIGHBOURS of Taunton's College in Southampton have launched a campaign against plans for a £28m rebuild of the campus.

The college in Hill Lane wants to knock down the existing buildings which have been in place for more than 70 years and replace them with a new state-of-the-art sixth form academy.

Residents living next to the site, which started life as Southampton's Grammar School for Girls, have said the new two- and three-storey building will invade their privacy, be unsafe for drivers and result in noise and light pollution for the community.

Stepping out in waterproofs and clutching umbrellas, a group of neighbours, who have become a sub-branch of the Upper Shirley Residents' Association, have posted a thousand leaflets through the letterboxes of local residents, alerting them to the development.

"There are many issues that concern us. One of which is the entrance from Hill Lane," said campaigner Marie Culley.

The present entrance is a one-way route into Taunton's College but the plans will see the junction, next to Mrs Culley's family home, become both an entrance and exit.

"There could be a serious accident with traffic trying to leave the college at that point, maybe even a fatality with the volume of people going in and out onto such a busy road," she added.

Mrs Culley lives in James Hill Court, a group of four homes that was developed on the site of the old caretaker's cottage for the college.

According to the plans submitted to Southampton City Council, the 150-space car park for the college will be moved to sit behind the houses, next to the three-storey section of the building.