RESIDENTS in Winchester are preparing to battle to save a Victorian industrial building threatened with demolition.

The building in Highcliffe, is part house and part warehouse. The upper part is a house on Cathedral View and the warehouse is at a lower level and fronts Chesil Street.

Developers Clydesdale want to replace it with six flats sparking opposition from local people.

Residents are concerned about the change to the character of the Victorian neighbourhood and the impact on parking in congested streets.

Alan Hunter-Craig, of Highcliffe Road, said: "This is one of the last industrial buildings and it deserves to be preserved. It has real architectural merit and is part of the city's history."

The building stems from the late 19th century when that part of Highcliffe was an industrial area, close to the Chesil railway station and sidings and Wharf Hill, at the end of the Itchen Navigation canal.

People are also worried that the same developer plan to infill a space further along Highcliffe Road. Mr Hunter-Craig said: "It is destroying the look of the area. These gaps between buildings give fresh air and the views you see. We don't want to see it totally enclosed.

"We are trying to protect this but the city council now has a policy towards more modern buildings."

The residents fear the impact from additional cars. The city council has a policy of not giving parking permits to new development but that only applies Monday to Saturday from 8am to 6pm and not in the evenings or Sundays.

The developer has bought several garages in a back lane off Highcliffe Road but Mr Hunter-Craig said the lane was so narrow that it would be nearly impossible to use them.