Opposition councillors urged the current administration to monitor development plans at a former car park to ensure it maintains its value.

Conservative councillor Richard Almond referenced the “slow” progress at the former Waxwell Lane car park, in Pinner, which has been “closed for two months”.

He questioned the amount of work at the site, which is set to see 20 new homes built, and suggested it could have been bringing in funds during this period.

According to the council’s draft budget, the loss of revenue from closing the car park is estimated at around £56,000 a year.

Cllr Almond argued that some of this could have been offset as it seems as if it “not currently being redeveloped”.

“A digger’s been digging a bit of a trench across one corner, a couple of chaps have been trimming some bushes but nothing else appears to have been done,” he said.

“You’ve lost about a quarter of its income in that time so what we’re asking is ‘why has it been so slow?’”

Cllr Graham Henson, leader of Harrow Council, explained that the ground at the car park had to be prepared before the development could progress.

He noted that it would be impossible to keep the car park open until the day before major works are carried out.

He said: “There is a large number of groundwork and investigations taking place. But at least they are on site and they will be developing a nice housing scheme.”

The scheme was narrowly approved by the council’s planning committee in March 2018, despite concerns around the loss of parking and, with just two homes, the low level of affordable housing.