THEY banged a drum, waved banners and placards screaming "This is Woolston not Manhattan" and made sure their message hit the streets of Southampton.

In a noisy demonstration through the city centre Woolston residents last night marched on the Civic Centre in protest at plans for 1,650 homes on the former Vosper Thornycroft (VT) site.

Click here to see a gallery of the proposed development

Shoppers looked on in bemusement as between 80 and 100 residents, from children to pensioners, paraded from the Cenotaph to the Bargate chanting: "Town planning not town cramming."

The campaigners gathered on steps of the Civic Centre where representatives of the Woolston Community Association, backed by local councillors, handed city planners a detailed 75-page objection to proposed £500m development by Crest Nicholson.

It includes 148 houses and 1,505 flats - some in apartment towers rising up to 25 storeys - with less than one parking space for each home.

Watch the protest march by clicking here

Residents argue the plans attempt to cram too many homes on to the site and will create traffic congestion and parking problems.

Council planners said they have now received well over 1,000 objections to the proposals which also include a supermarket, hotel and public plaza.

March organiser Jane Foster said: "It's been a fabulous turnout. And this is only the beginning. We will fight this to the end.

"Woolston does not deserve this particular development. The tower blocks will become the ghettos of the future."

Andrew Middleton from the development section of the WCA added: "We hope it will have the necessary impact on decisionmakers.

"These plans are a real threat to spoil Woolston with too many dwellings in too small a space."

Labour Woolston ward councillors have also made objections.

Councillor Warwick Payne said: "It's not every day that a planning application leads to a protest through Southampton. If that's not an indication of the strength of feeling of Woolston residents then I don't know what is."

Councillor Richard Williams added he only knew of one resident in favour of the plans as they stood.

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He said he was also concerned about a potential conflict of interest as SEEDA, the regional development agency which owns the VT site, will be the regional body responsible for planning next year.

But a SEEDA spokesman insisted its role was not to determine planning applications but to produce a regional strategy which had to be signed off by local authorities.

Tory Cabinet member for economic development Royston Smith said he personally shared residents concerns over parking and housing density. But he said it was up to the planning panel to make an independent decision.

Crest Nicholson said the mix and number of homes was in line with council policy and they have proposed measures to reduce the impact of the development on the existing community such a water taxi and junction improvements.

The deadline for objections is Thursday.