Eastleigh council's bid to save the borough's greenfields, stave off two major development areas and spark a multi-million pound regeneration project in the town centre has been launched at a public inquiry.

The hearing - which is likely to settle the town's long-running war of attrition over development of allotment land - will examine unresolved objections to Eastleigh's local plan review aimed at guiding development in the borough over the next seven years.

The hearing is expected to last five months.

During the next five months a range of subjects such as housing, employment, transport, the countryside, nature conservation, shopping, environmental sustainability and listed buildings will come under the microscope.

The first week's hearings will be devoted to objections over proposed countryside policies in the plan.