CONTROVERSIAL plans to demolish five traditional homes to make way for a huge apartment block in a village near York are set to be thrown out.

Planning officers are recommending McCarthy and Stone's scheme for 37 two and three-storey sheltered flats in The Village, Wigginton, should be refused permission.

The scale and height of the proposed building would be out of character and would spoil the appearance of the area, says a report to this Thursday's City of York Council Planning and Transport (East Area) Sub Committee.

Officers also warned that parking and access arrangements would not provide for pedestrians' safety, and raised concerns about the potential loss of bat roosting areas through the demolition of the houses.

The proposals have generated fierce opposition from some residents in Wigginton, with more than 280 signing a petition against the scheme.

Objectors claimed an elderly ghetto would be created, and said the development would over-shadow and overlook nearby properties. They warned that the scheme could have implications for villages across the York area, bringing the risk of flat developments wherever there were properties with large back gardens.

The officers' report said Wigginton Parish Council strongly objected to the flats, saying it saw them as a "major assault" on the infrastructure and character of the village.

It claimed the building would be "totally alien" to the rest of The Village, which was predominantly small two-storey houses.

Updated: 09:58 Tuesday, April 12, 2005