Plans to demolish a three-storey Bitterne Park house for 11 flats are the latest battleground in the fight against what campaigners see as the needless loss of family housing.

Residents say giving the go-ahead to the plan would be tantamount to creating a "Costa del Itchen".

Developers and a former owner say the run down building - already made up of four self-contained flats - is falling down and cannot be saved.

Southampton City Council's planning panel was today deciding the future of 74 Whitworth Crescent, known as Harcourt Mansions.

A 110-name petition and 18 letters, including one from Itchen MP John Denham, have already been handed to planners objecting to the plans by Knightwood Homes.

Bitterne Park residents launched the Triangle & Whitworth Crescent Preservation Society to fight them and try to establish a conservation area as another layer of planning protection.

Jason Fellner from the society said: "This beautiful 1900 house has lasted 100 years and will almost certainly outlast any modern flats. This proposal bankrupts any proposals to have a conservation area by the river.

"I really hope on this occasion the city hall will listen to the views of local residents."

Bitterne Park ward councillor Peter Baillie said: "We desperately need to protect our diminishing heritage which is why I will oppose this development."

No spokesman for the developer was available.

For the full story, see today's Daily Echo