Shocked Meriden residents have been told their homes could be demolished and more than 90 new homes built in the north Watford estate as part of a Watford housing association’s scheme to regenerate the area.

Watford Community Housing Trust also revealed ideas to relocate the estate’s shops and knock down the MOT garage at a public meeting on Tuesday.

But concerned residents voiced fears the proposals will add to traffic problems, put more pressure on oversubscribed schools, leave them with less green space, displace residents and negatively impact the estate’s businesses.

At the meeting residents were told the trust’s initial projections of 90 new homes on the estate may have been an underestimate.

Gareth Lewis, director of operations for the trust, said: "We do not know how many new homes we will introduce. The number 90 has been bandied around, I think this will easily be achieved - it could be more."

Residents were presented with three options by architects Pollard Thomas Edwards.

In one option, the existing shops and MOT garage would be moved to new buildings at the corner of York Way and Meriden Way, facing a new square. 

A park would then be built on the site of the existing shops, while the green space at York Way would be used for a community garden for older people and a sheltered housing scheme. Ten bungalows in The Turnstones and York Way, which back onto this green space, would be refurbished.

Other options show the bungalows being replaced with larger homes, and the green space at York Way converted into a village green with trees, plants, benches and a new toddler play area. 

People living in the bungalows were told they might have to move just hours before the trust presented its first designs at the meeting.

One tenant said: "I’ve only been there a year. We’ve spent a lot of money on the house - my husband was decorating when they told us this morning. They said we’ll get £5,000 if they demolish them. We don’t want money, we don’t want to live in a flat - just leave us alone."

Resident Steve Moss said the regeneration schemes don’t take into account people actually living in the estate.

He said: "What about the people who work at the garage, and where are the busses going to stop if we have a cobbled path around the green? The Meriden has always been a garden suburb and these proposals will change that. It will create a community within a community and that’s not what we want. These proposals very much feel like phase one for the trust, I think they’ll be even more new homes then they are saying now by the end of it."

Residents were told there are currently 745 households registered in housing need in Watford.

Mr Lewis said the new homes would be allocated in line with Watford Borough Council’s housing policy, which pins eligibility to people who have lived in the town five out of the last six years.

He said: "We have been looking at the Meriden as a place which may be suitable for new homes and where a revived centre could include a better shopping parade and community space. 

"However, we understand that new homes must be planned properly. There should be adequate access, parking and amenity for the new homes, they should integrate well with existing development and they should of course be well designed. 

"We still do not have firm plans in place, and the drawings we have shown to the community simply show what the options might look like. We’ll be consulting further with residents, with a view to making a planning application by March 2015."