A TWO-pronged attack is to be launched by Eastleigh council in a bid to sink proposals for a new town on green fields south of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak.

Two months ago, borough councillors backed a draft planning blueprint which inc-luded a new major development area (MDA) of up to 4,000 homes.

Allington was chosen as the working title for the planned new development of houses, schools, a range of shops, and health, church and community facilities, on 625 acres.

Eastleigh reluctantly included the Allington development in an updated planning blueprint for the borough saying it was the "least worst option" for an MDA - the provision of which Eastleigh had always opposed.

But in an amazing eleventh-hour turn-around, the council is now set to take legal advice to challenge Hampshire County Council's requirement to allocate land for an MDA south east of Eastleigh.

Councillors also backed a move to lobby the Department of Environment, Transport and Regions to "urgently" scale down the development it requires the county council to provide over the next ten years.

After last night's meeting, Eastleigh council leader Keith House confirmed the authority would be taking counsel on the matter.

He said he believed that regional planning guidance and national planning policy had made Hampshire's structure plan obsolete.

He also said the move would probably mean that publication of Eastleigh's draft local plan review for public consultation would now be delayed until after the general election.