Debbie Killingback (second from left) with her fellow protesting residents

A GROUP of residents has threatened to stage a Suffragette-style sit-in protest if the council cut off the entrance to their estate for five months.

Debbie Killingback, who lives in Spedan Close on the Branch Hill estate in Hampstead, says the road resurfacing works planned for Heysham Lane will leave elderly and disabled residents stranded.

The council last week agreed to pause the works, part of the sell-off and redevelopment of the former Branch Hill Care Home, after they were threatened with legal action.

Ms Killingback said: “There is a real community up here and we’re ready to go sit up there and chain ourselves to the railings like Suffragettes. I think they think we’re just council tenants, scruff of the necks, and they can do what they like.”

She added: “Why do they have to shut the whole thing down for five months – why can’t they do it in phases?”

Ms Killingback, an agent and actor who played singer George Michael’s girlfriend in the smash-hit single Last Christmas, has lived in the listed Branch Hill estate since it was built in 1978. Nestled in a green oasis between a listed care home and red-brick mansions, it is one of the last outposts of council housing at the top of Hampstead.

Ms Killingback with George Michael in Last Christmas

Resident Vicky Taylor said: “You’re brought up round here that if you see an elderly person you go and help them. That’s what we’re doing – there are a lot of elderly and disabled people here and we are looking out for them.”

Interior design specialist Cassie O’Brien, who has lived on the estate for 28 years, has also warned about access for the fire brigade, dial-a-ride and ambulances if the road is cut off.

“We’re not a bunch of bored housewives,” she said. “We have jobs and we run our own businesses. They say the road is too small for big machinery and they have to do it by hand.”

Branch Hill

The tenants say they have been calling for the council to resurface the road for more than 20 years and believe the works are only happening now because the council is about to sell off the neighbouring Branch Hill Care Home. The sale to a private developer is rumoured to be worth £50million.

The former care home has been empty since for the past two years since it was shut down as part of a major council­ shake-up of care home services.

Planning and transport chief Councillor Phil Jones said: “We are providing assistance to residents where they need help to access their homes and have set up alternative temporary parking spaces. We’ve also invited the emergency services to meet us on site if they wish. These works are needed to repair a badly deteriorating highway which will remain for resident use.”