CAMPAIGNERS are stepping up their fight against plans to enlarge a Hampshire town by building 145 homes on a greenfield site.

Civic chiefs have joined the battle to prevent rural land north of the old railway line at Fordingbridge from disappearing appearing beneath bricks and concrete.

Two developers have angered residents by submitting proposals to build a new estate beside the disused line, which currently marks the town's northern boundary.

As reported in the Daily Echo, locals say the new homes will generate too much traffic as well as placing extra strain on schools and other services.

Now Fordingbridge Town Council is urging the district council to reject the proposals, largely on road safety grounds.

The land under threat is a 9.2-hectare site near Fordingbridge infant and junior schools as well as the busy A338 Ringwood to Salisbury road.

The town council's objection's criticises the "cramped and urban feel" of the high-density scheme.

It adds: "The road layout and parking provision is considered to be unsuitable, with concerns raised regarding how the school drop-off zone will be protected from residential parking and whether the spine road has been designed to become a future access road (linking to the A338?).

"This would seriously impair the residential amenity and safety of occupiers of the site, in particularly those directly adjacent to the spine road."

If planning permission is granted the properties will be built on farmland off Whitsbury Road.

Objectors include Scott Hanham, of nearby Dudley Avenue, whose letter to the district council says: "The proposed development contains too many dwellings. The local infrastructure is already creaking under the strain."

Fellow protester Callie Wilson, of Bedford Close, Fordingbridge, claims the local infant and junior schools are already over-subscribed.

Derek Scully, of Bedford Close, Fordingbridge, adds: "The old railway line has always been seen as the northern boundary for development and should remain so."

But the applicants, Highwood Homes and Pennyfarthing Homes, claim traffic assessments show the scheme will have "no adverse effects on the existing transport network".

Planning documents submitted by the two companies say proposed development will include starter homes and affordable housing as well as delivering 2,500 square metres of allotments and public open space.

The council is likely to determine the application next month.