Angry residents are calling for MP, Mark Oaten, to help them fight plans for a large housing development on the edge of the city.

Homeowners in St Cross Road, between Five Bridges Road and Hockley link, behind whose properties the development is planned, say it will destroy a beautiful "gateway into the city".

This week, they showed the MP where London-based developers, Galeway Properties, want to build 21 houses and 48 flats in an estate, which will provide homes for nearly 200.

Mr Oaten heard how the plans would mean the demolition of four houses, two of them Edwardian, to make way for the estate, which would extend over back gardens and near the watermeadows.

It is not the first time campaigners have had to fend off the developers. Over the last five years, there have been four applications to build behind their homes. Last year, feelings ran so high that a plan from developer, Sunrise, for a 90-bedroom nursing home never got off the ground.

Martin Morrissey (43), who is spearheading the campaign, said: "This is totally inappropriate. From around six to eight people living here, we would go to hundreds. The view of the valley will be completely transformed."

Mr Morrissey, who has lived in St Cross Road since 1988, added: "We've spent years fighting off the developers. It's not just an issue for St Cross residents, but the whole of the Itchen Valley," he said, adding that the visual impact would affect people in places such as Twyford and Compton.

Graham Phillips (75), said: "I've lived here 26 years and to build an estate like this next to us would not be pleasant. This is part of the country - not part of the city."

Terri Morley (59) feared that the estate, with nearly 200 car parking spaces accessed by one entrance, would lead to traffic chaos.

Agreeing to help, Mark Oaten said: "It's quite obviously over-development and would have a huge visual impact on the gateway to the city." He was also concerned about the increased traffic.