Contractors working on Hitchin’s cricket and hockey club revamp have moved to reassure neighbours after a sign appeared to announce 18 months of parking restrictions.

Morgan Sindall, which is working at the Lucas Lane site on behalf of Hitchin Cricket Club and Blueharts Hockey Club, has sent out leaflets clarifying that the restrictions in parts of Bedford Street and Gaping Lane will be for less than three months.

The contractor already had to address “teething problems” on the route to the site in March, amid neighbours’ claims of “lorry chaos” and “a hell”.

The contractor has said larger deliveries this time will be “just a handful each week”, with most access requirements during this time being for vans, small fixed-base units and staff cars.

The restrictions, starting after this weekend and set to go on until December 10, will be from 1am on Mondays to 6pm on Fridays. Regarding damage to verges and other parts of the streets, Morgan Sindall has said it “will carry out an extensive condition survey of the existing road and pathways, and any damage caused by our vehicles in this period will be rectified”.

The notices implying 18 months of parking restrictions, issued by Hertfordshire County Council, had provoked furious responses from neighbours.

Louise Cox told the Comet the situation surrounding the parking restrictions was “so outrageous I am lost for words”.

She said: “How is this even possible? I struggle to understand how anybody at the council could even consider such a measure.

“This, combined with the new parking restrictions the council plans on installing around Kent Place and Greenside Drive, and the fact that parking permits on West Hill have simply pushed even more people to park on Oughton Head Way, will make it impossible for residents to park.”

Sean Rooney, a businessman who works from home and has small children, said he had no off-street parking and “no idea where I will park my vehicles when restrictions are in place”.

Among other things, he said no consultation had been raised with residents about the restrictions, that the route was unsuitable for heavy vehicles and that the restrictions were “totally impractical, even for a short period”.

Work at the sports ground is nearing completion. The revamp was funded by the sale of a strip of land on the site’s eastern edge to CALA Homes, which is set to build 27 houses there.