"WE must fight this together!" That was the rallying cry from protesters fighting to stop a controversial property development that will add traffic to a New Forest school road branded a death trap.

About 70 Ashurst residents packed into Colbury church hall to hear advice from parish leaders and district councillors on how to fight the scheme proposed for Foxhills.

Campaigner Chris Turner gave a presentation to villagers on how the project to build nine houses in the patch neighbouring Foxhills pre, infant and junior schools would increase traffic on the busy road.

Together the schools in Foxhills Lane have 684 pupils on roll.

Sally Arnold, chairwoman of the Ashurst and Colbury Parish Council, urged residents not to give up the struggle.

She said: "The only way we can beat this is if we work together."

Ward councillor Derek Tipp said New Forest District Council planning officers, who will recommend the application goes ahead, faced pressure from the government to find space for new houses.

Sylvie Atkinson, of Foxhills, dismissed the idea that some of the homes would be affordable. She said: "They're only going to be affordable to people of a certain category. It's a profit-making venture."

The meeting heard how the emergency services had recently had great difficulty making their way to a young girl who had been injured in a road accident.

Resident Don Lewis said: "The road is chronically dangerous both for the individuals who use it and in emergency situations."

Councillor Pete Sopowski urged people to write letters of objection to the planning department.

He said the strongest arguments were the loss of privacy to people living next to the proposed development, the change in character of the area and the potential drainage and traffic problems it would cause.

The scheme would involve demolishing a house on Foxhills and using the space to create access to a narrow strip of land behind it.

A spokesman for the applicants, represented by Millbrook based architect Tony Oldfield, were not present. But Mr Oldfield had earlier told the Daily Echo he did not think the site was being overdeveloped or that the Highways Agency would object to the scheme.

Objections to the scheme should be sent to the planning department at New Forest District Council's Appletree Court headquarters by November.