Furious residents staged a showdown with councillors over plans to build 23 houses in the heart of a historic village near York.

Locals at Copmanthorpe are up in arms over a scheme to develop land near the village green into 23 homes with parking for up to 80 vehicles.

They have bombarded the City of York Council with letters and a petition objecting to the proposal, which they claim would create a traffic nightmare in the village.

Yesterday they staged a protest at the green during a site visit by city councillors and planning officials.

And they handed over a letter outlining their objections drawn up by the local action group set up to fight the scheme.

The site is off Low Green, which hosts the village's two schools and a nursing home.

Residents say about 400 children use the road to get to school and it is busy enough without the addition of more cars from the proposed development.

And more than 50 locals turned up yesterday to tell councillors to reject the plan.

Harvey Walker, one of the protesters, said: "The main concern is traffic density through the village."

And, he said, if the proposal went ahead there would be a busy junction in the middle of the village green which would increase the chance of accidents.

He told councillors he will carry out a traffic survey to monitor the movement of cars in the area, which he hopes will lend weight to villagers' concerns.

Another villager, Kay Murphy, said the development would ruin the historic heart of the old village.

"We feel it's out of keeping with the old part of Copmanthorpe. We want to preserve its rural character," she said.

At the site meeting, the protesters were told the area was for housing so there could be no planning reason to ban homes on the land.

However, planners said there were concerns over the number of houses, the impact on trees in the area and the traffic issue. They said the original plan had been withdrawn for amendment and councillors and officers would return at a later date for a second visit.

Mrs Walker said she was pleased with the protest. "We have got the message across, which was what we were hoping for. We were pleased to be given the opportunity to present our case."

Coun John Boardman, chairman of the local area planning committee, said he expected revised plans to be submitted to the council and would return later for another visit.

Michael Unwin, who lives at Low Green and owns the land earmarked for the new homes, rejected the protesters' claims.

Mr Unwin, who has lived in the village for 60 years and was a former parish councillor, said the scheme would not ruin the look of Copmanthorpe as it would be shielded from the road. He said it was important to provide enough parking so new residents and their guests did not have to park in the main street.

He said he planned to move into one of the new homes when they were finished, and said he hoped the current animosity between himself and neighbours would die down over time.

A spokeswoman for Malcolm Tempest Ltd, agents for developers Talton Developments, said no one was available to comment on the scheme.

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