PEOPLE fear they will live in perpetual shadow' of a massive development next to Kew Bridge, Richmond's council leader said this week, as pictures of the 11-storey tower were released.

Developer St George plans to build 263 flats and 26,000 sq ft of commercial floor space on the vacant Scottish Widows site on the Brentford side of the river.

The scheme will rise from four storeys on the riverside to a maximum height of 11 storeys on the corner of Kew Bridge and Kew Bridge Road. Hounslow Council's planning brief of two years ago suggested a limit of nine stories.

The effect of the tower on Kew Gardens was one of the main issues discussed at a public meeting organised by Brentford Community Council, a residents' group.

Richmond council leader Tony Arbour commented: My principal worry is the effect it will have on Kew Gardens, and its campaign to be made a UNESCO world heritage site. This kind of development would put that at risk.''

He added that many at the packed meeting were opposed to the plans: Local residents seemed to feel it wasn't a very distinguished design, with some fearing they'd live in perpetual shadow from the tower.''

The planning application for the site will be considered by Hounslow Council and the Mayor of London, while Richmond upon Thames Council will be officially consulted.

Brentford architect Jelena Tomic condemned the design as horrendously condensed''. She said: Kew Bridge will be 100 years old soon and this is not a very nice birthday present."

James Debney, of the Thames Landscape Strategy, said he couldn't comment on particular developments, but would say that utmost care should be taken of this site, given its location on the river, and that it is directly opposite Kew Gardens, which is in the middle of a bid for World Heritage status''. The developers argue that the scheme will provide a better riverside environment from an aesthetic, architectural and ecological perspective, a new riverside walk, a new area of riverside wetlands, public access into the site for the first time, a new public piazza lined together with an improved slip road making the area safer and more attractive for the pedestrian and cyclists and regeneration of a site that has been vacant for over ten years.

St George adds that they are confident that the levels of congestion currently experienced will not get significantly worse for the residents and businesses in the immediate surroundings.

Kew Gardens' management has so far declined to comment on the scheme.