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Homeowners claim greedy landlords have turned their neighbourhood into a 'student ghetto' as they protest against plans for another house share on their road.

Fed-up locals say their close-knit neighbourhood has deteriorated, with landlords turning family homes into houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).

Residents on Nelson Street in Worcester say the increased number HMOs has led to rowdy parties and caused parking chaos.

It is estimated there are around 14 HMOs on the 68-property street, the equivalent of one for every four or five houses.

Locals are protesting after plans were submitted to convert a three-storey detached property into a sprawling five-bedroom house share.

The landlord claims the property would be used to house restaurant staff but residents say it is more likely to be students who live there in the future.

Nelson Road is just a mile from the main campus of the University of Worcester meaning most of the HMOs are occupied by undergraduates.

Fuming residents say the burgeoning student numbers on their street has turned it into a 'ghetto'.

Local David Lemon said: 'If given permission, what happens if the restaurant closes in six months?

'It will then be rented to students, or other occupants who doubtless may well arrive with cars.

'Once the property is lost to an HMO it will not return. I believe there are currently 14 HMOs in Nelson Road alone.'

Long-term resident Susan Francis said: 'I have lived in Nelson Road for 35 years.

'In this time it has changed from a lovely family friendly street to a road where virtually every other house is a HMO.

'It seems utterly ridiculous to me that the landlord (of the proposed HMO) should even apply for planning permission when one of the criteria is there should be adequate off road parking when there isn't any parking at all.'

Jayne Lewis said: 'The parking around here is a nightmare as it is and where are these residents and possibly another five cars going to park?

'St John's is becoming like a student ghetto.'

Charity Byrne demanded urgent action is taken to restrict the number of HMOs in the area.

She said: 'There needs to be a halt of HMOs in St John's. The university expansion has clearly not been well thought out.

'St John's can't be made into a student village of sorts.

'The HMOs already in existence are so poorly controlled - bins, dirt, noise, rowdy behaviour. They are an eyesore.'

Linda Wilkes, 69, and her husband William, 77, have been in the street for three decades and now live next door to a HMO.

Linda said: 'We didn't notice it at first but more and more houses on the street were bought by landlords and rented out.

'It's gradually got worse since they've been expanding the university. Everywhere you look there are university buildings.

'The students aren't all bad and they've got to live somewhere.

'My problem is on a street like Nelson Road, it's a small street, why do we need so many HMOs here?

'Without a shadow of a doubt it's greedy landlords, and it's landlords outside of Worcester buying up properties for students.

'It was a lovely little street, it still is with some great neighbours. But there's a lot of older people here and some families.

'Our cars have been damaged so many times. It's stressful and frustrating.'

William added: 'The last people we had living next door it was like a drug den.

'But we've had very nice students, but it's just the volume of them.'

Retired carpet fitter Neil Cotterill, 72, said student numbers had caused some people to sell their homes and leave the area.

He said: 'I moved in 1973. It was very different in those days. We didn't have lots of HMOs it was all families. Everyone took pride in the street.

'It started around 20 years ago, there were one or two. The last few years it has gone up.

'There are issues with students not taking bins in and rubbish blowing down the street.

'I think we need family houses down here not any more HMOs. It loses the community on the street when there's a lot of students, it needs families.'

Rob Skinner, 82, lives on nearby Woodstock Road but says the situation is just as bad there.

The father-of-two said: 'We've got 14 or 15 per cent HMOs on Woodstock Road. Woodstock has parking restrictions from 11am to 3pm but that doesn't seem to apply to students.

'The landlords don't seem interested.

'At least three of the landlords on Woodstock Road don't live in the area, and don't even live in the city. All they are bothered about is the money.

'There's a worry that it could become a student ghetto. It tends to drop the price of houses. Simply, there are just too many HMOs.'

A spokesperson for Worcester City Council said: 'We will not be commenting on this live planning application.'

The University of Worcester said it was a matter for city planner to decide whether houses should be converted into HMOs.

In a statement, they said: 'The University of Worcester has developed a substantial stock of purpose built student accommodation in the city as have private sector firms - so there is a surplus of good quality purpose-designed accommodation for students in the city.

'More than half of our students are studying to become nurses, midwives, teachers, doctors, physiotherapists, paramedics and for other vital professions.

'Their valuable courses involve working for many weeks on placement in hospitals, schools and health settings.

'Many choose to live near their place of work and commute to the university to study.'