Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has been asked to attend a crisis meeting over his plans to build nearly a million new homes across the south east over the next 20 years.

Town hall leaders want to ask him about Government proposals unveiled last month which set county-by-county targets.

The Local Government Association Conservative Group warns of "widespread concern'' over the plans.

It has called the meeting for 4.30pm at Local Government House, Westminster, on Monday, April 17.

Lord Hanningfield, leader of the Conservative Group and Conservative leader of at Essex County Council, said: "John Prescott has ignored the advice of local councils.

"Now we are giving him the opportunity to meet us and explain why he has taken this decision.

"We will also be able to express some of the concerns local people have put to us about the implications of house building on this scale.

"This is not just about preserving the countryside. There are enormous implications for public service delivery."

The Government says it wants around 900,000 new buildings to go mostly on brownfield, or derelict industrial land and save greenfield sites from more suburban sprawl.

Areas with existing good transport links like Milton Keynes, Cambridgeshire, the Thames Gateway - which has been extended to include Southend - and Ashford in Kent are being targeted.

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