Campaigners are warning “Godzilla-like” flats planned for an underground station risk harming their “peaceful suburb”.

Members of the Hands off Finchley Central campaign have created a series of striking images they claim show the scale of the residential development recently proposed for the tube station.

While they are not official images, the campaigners say they are based on information and models provided by Transport for London (TfL) at a consultation event.

TfL and Taylor Wimpey want to build more than 650 homes at Finchley Central, 40 per cent of which would be classed as affordable.

The plans are currently being revised by TfL and the developer following a period of consultation with the local community.

Rob White, campaigner and local resident, said the images show “the Godzilla-like monsters that TfL wants to crash onto our peaceful and diverse suburb”.

He said: “As you will see, their plan for some kind of pound-shop Canary Wharf will inflict on Finchley Central a brutal change of character – cramming hundreds of dwellings into a very small space, ramping up congestion of all kinds, shutting out light to existing homes all around, creating wind tunnels, and overloading a very small site – which is to be gifted to wealthy developers.”

Mr White added the development would have an impact on schools, transport, healthcare and parking.

He said: “We are absolutely not Nimbys. We accept completely that London needs more housing, but much of this – it seems to us – is not designed to meet that valuable target, but to allow more shell investment and buy-to-let landlord opportunities rather than help people in need.”

Fellow resident and campaigner Mark Fineberg explained how he had created the images.

He said: “The images aren’t what planners call ‘certified views’ but they are accurate renderings of what was presented at consultation.

“I took the renderings proposed by the developers and counted the number of storeys of the buildings.

“I also took the photographs of the models they presented and digitally traced around them to create a measured 3D virtual scale model of their proposed development based on the floor numbers given (27) and 3.15m floor-to-floor heights, which are the same as the nearby Gateway Tower.

“I also added 5 metres to the tower for ground floor service vehicle ceiling levels and top floor plant, which generated a 90-metre-high building.

“Renderings from the model were superimposed onto photos I took from the street and Google Maps 3D aerial views. I verified the heights to calibrate the placing of the model by modelling local landmarks such as Central Tower, which is nine storeys high.”

Nearly 300 people have so far signed a petition set up by the campaigners calling for the development to be cancelled.

Graeme Craig, director of commercial development at TfL, said: “Our proposals for the site by Finchley Central tube station would provide new homes, with 40 per cent affordable housing and significant improvements to the area around the station.

“The images sent through with the initial enquiry have not been created by TfL nor the parties involved in the development project.

“Once the proposals have been updated, incorporating the feedback from the local community, we will look to re-engage with the local community and share up-to-date imagery at a second public exhibition planned for early 2020.”

The petition is available here: https://www.change.org/p/transport-for-london-hands-off-finchley-central-stop-the-proposed-station-development-by-tfl