Angry residents are claiming big iron gates – put up by a temple – are dividing a community.

People living in and around Ventnor Street in Barkerend said they were stunned when the Gobind Singh Gurdwara installed 6ft-high padlocked blue gates right across their road, leaving just enough space on one side for one person to squeeze through.

“It just happened. One day they weren’t there and the next, there they were. Massive, blue gates blocking off the road. We had no warning, no notice, no nothing. People are angry and want to know what’s going on,” said Nabila Hussain, 19, who is starting up a petition to get the gates taken down.

Barkerend councillor Imran Khan said his phone had been “red-hot” with calls from constituents wanting to know what was going on and he had 20 people at his surgery yesterday up in arms about it.

For more on this story, see today's T&A