More than 550 people have signed a petition begging Braintree Council not to allow housing developments to “submerge” their villages.

The council is currently working on its Local Plan to help decide where to build up to 18,000 homes in the district.

Developers have proposed eight sites around Kelvedon and seven around Feering, as well as a 7,500 home site west of Marks Tey.

Alan Stones, secretary of the Kelvedon and Feering Heritage Society helped to organise the petition.

He said: “We hope they will give it a lot of weight, that they will realise there is popular anger over the major developments being dropped on us.”

The petition, delivered by post to council offices at Causeway House in Braintree, came after villagers held a public meeting in March, attended by more than 200 people.

Mr Stones said the petition was signed by “about 90 per cent” of those at the meeting and then circulated among shops and businesses in the area.

He said as many as 20 per cent of households in the area are represented in the 574 signature document.

Mr Stones said the population of the two villages is about 6,750, so with an extra 2,000 homes it would “double the size” of the area.

He said: “We could be submerged. We were horrified by the amount of land that developers were offering and we wanted to let Braintree Council know in advance that we don’t want to see these developments on our doorstep.

“The character of the village as a settlement would completely vanish, we would become part of a huge urban area.

“The infrastructure just can’t take it. Kelvedon High Street is congested with traffic going to and from the A12 as it is.”

However, Mr Stones said a limited amount of housing could be acceptable.

He said: “There is a shortage of social housing for local families in the area so we would be happy to see a certain amount of housing for the local needs of Kelvedon and Feering families.

“But we don’t want to play a major part in dealing with Braintree’s housing demands.”