THE genteel pursuit of miniature railway engineering has sparked a major row among Stoke residents.

Villagers have been steaming about the prospect of the Andover and District Model Engineering Society using a Stoke field for their mechanical hobby.

The engineering society, formed in 1945, has applied for permission to build a 730 feet track in a field at Jones Farm.

The Andover society has occupied a site at Red Rice since 1968, but its members now face eviction on 3 September because a walled garden is due to be built on their site.

Emotions ran high at Tuesday night's St Mary Bourne Parish Council meeting as Stoke villagers spoke out against the society's planning application.

Addressing the meeting, parish council chairman Alan Marsden said: "This is an alien club coming in and landing on Stoke and people there will be asking 'what's in it for us?'" Stoke resident Gerald Wood said the rail track could become a dangerous attraction for children while also posing a fire risk.

His daughter Penny Wood, added: "The site is a North Wessex Downs Area of Natural Beauty and is a haven for water birds.

"There are no security plans by the proposed occupier," she said.

Another resident, Colin Underwood, urged the parish council to think carefully before voting in favour of the plans. However, a petition with 44 signatures supporting the club's presence in Stoke was presented to Mr Marsden by the landlord of the village's White Hart pub, Brian Haigh.

Stoke resident David Hawitt addressed residents' concerns about noise levels by revealing that a noise environment officer measured a level of just four decibels after standing in the middle of a line while a train was running. Another Stoke resident, Tony Taylor, said: "I do not see how the club coming to the village could be anything but an asset - people go to Hurstbourne Tarrant and St Mary Bourne and just pass straight through Stoke."

Parish councillors voted seven to one in favour of the planning application.

Only chairman Mr Marsden voted against it.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council planning officers are due to make a decision about the application on Wednesday.