Furious residents have vowed to fight moves which could see their village swamped by hundreds of new homes.

Housing developers want to overturn rules which prevent massive expansion of Elmstead Market. The move could see the number of homes in the village soar from 780 to 1,200.

But residents claim the village cannot handle a huge house-building programme. Last night almost 150 villagers packed into an emergency meeting to protest against the moves.

Parish council chairman Stephen Coombs said: "This is a small village and it can't take any more development."

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Published Wednesday, November 17, 2004

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