Transport for London (TfL) could make £60 million from the sale of land and homes in New Southgate if the £900million A406 widening scheme is scrapped.

Papers from a TfL board meeting in October last year show that TfL, which inherited the land portfolio in 2002, could make a killing by selling off the unused sites.

A spokesman for TfL this week warned that it was not a housing authority' and would not keep the land if it was not part of a transport project.

Almost 20 years since the first detailed plans for the North Circular Road were released, the scrapping of the multi-million pound project, which would have seen huge changes to the traffic-clogged road, looks inevitable.

Many of the houses now lie in disrepair. Residents living in Pevensey Avenue, New Southgate, complained last week that TfL properties along the Telford Road stretch of the North Circular, have become a breeding ground for rats.

Desiree Conti, who has rented a house in Brentmead Place, off the North Circular Road for 30 years, said: "If TfL sold this house, it would devastate me.

"I have turned it from a derelict place to a home in which I am very happy and I don't want to move at the age of 70."

Nearly 500 properties and plots of land have been on hold since the mid '80s when the Government bought the sites for planned improvements.

In New Southgate, 443 sites are currently held by the London-wide transport organisation along with 31 properties on the A406 by Golders Green Road, and two in Regents Park Road. The TfL report reveals that no disposals are programmed until the 2005/06 financial year, though this will be reviewed'.

Ms Conti, meanwhile, is fearful for the future. "I would hate it if they sold my home," she said.

"Just because I don't have the money to buy a house doesn't mean I shouldn't be allowed to live in the house that I pay rent for and in which I have brought up my children and grandchildren.

"Because I have lived here for 30 years and the landlords have never done any work to it, I think I should be offered the house at a lower rate."

A spokesman for TfL said: "TfL is not a housing authority, subsequently it is unlikely we will hold on to properties we do not need. When a decision is reached, the future of the properties will become clearer."