RESIDENTS of homes backing on to Southampton Common have vowed to fight council plans to restrict their access to the city's green lung.

City chiefs are set to grab back land from people's gardens to stop the Common from shrinking.

It is thought hundreds of square metres have been taken over by private gardens, slowly extended over the years, and new buildings.

Residents whose homes have access to the Common via their back gardens will also be targeted by city environment chiefs.

City bosses are warning that the right to gain access to the Common from residents' back gardens may now be deemed "illegal".

The move to stop the precious 325 acres of parkland being further eaten into was given the green light by the city's ruling Liberal Democrat Cabinet yesterday.

City chiefs plan to write to all landowners who have encroached on the land - and put up a 4ft-high fence around the entire Common.

It will cost up to £15,000 just to send out the letters - and £3,000 for every 50 metres of fencing.

City experts say the boundary will be "considerable" and would have to be built over a number of years to keep the costs down.

The council is warning residents living in Westbourne Crescent that they will be taking action to take back Common land which has been eaten into by their gardens.

It is thought that a total of 350 square metres of designated Common land are in the extended back gardens of residents in Highfield, Burgess Road and Northlands Road.

Meanwhile, people living in Northlands Gardens who used to pay the council a token sum of one shilling to get on to the Common are in the firing line from city bosses who are questioning the legality of their access rights.

Other residents living in Hill Lane are due to be told that there are "encroachments" through their gardens on to the Common although they are not regarded as serious.

One Hill Lane resident, who did not want to be named and whose home gains access to the Common through a hole in the ditch at the back of his house, said he would contest any council plans to stop him getting on to the Common. He said: "I have a deed which gives me access to the Common. I am not encroaching. The entrance is the council's."

Chris Deaper, 78, of Hill Lane, whose home also has a back gate access to the Common, said: "Obviously, I would prefer to have access to the Common. As far as I am aware, our boundary is at the base of the ditch.We are not doing damage."

Barry Tebb, of Northlands Gardens, whose home backs on to the Common, has lived in the road since 1964. He told the Daily Echo that three homes in the road had access to the Common.

He said: "We used to pay the council a shilling a year for access. As far as I am aware, nobody has written to us from the council saying that our access should be refused."