HUNDREDS of visitors to Eastleigh's Lakeside Country Park are backing plans to stop the town's green area from sinking under a sea of concrete.

The Lakeside Area Residents Association has launched a "Save Lakeside from Development" campaign.

As part of a massive town centre redevelopment plan the council propose to build hundreds of homes in their backyard.

There are plans to build four storey blocks of flats overlooking the lakes.

It is part of a massive town centre redevelopment and some £22 million will be ploughed into developing leisure facilities.

Local residents say that building on allotments and open space around the Lakeside Countryside Park area will destroy the quality of life for many residents.

Now the residents association has joined forces with the Eastleigh and Bishopstoke Allotment Association to block the development plans.

Over the bank holiday weekend visitors to Lakeside Country Park were invited to sign a protest petition. Mr Ted Ingram, who is treasurer of the Eastleigh and Bishopstoke Allotment Association, said: "We wanted to raise public awareness and in three days we collected about 1,300 signatures.

"So many people wanted to sign that we had to photocopy more forms. I was flabbergasted at the response."

Visitors came from as far afield as Portsmouth and Mr Ingram said they were horrified to hear that the area could be under threat from development.

Many who visited Lakeside had come from concrete jungles to enjoy a bit of the countryside.

The battle to save Eastleigh's allotments comes at a time when Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has ordered an audit of the country's allotment gardens amid concerns that some are being sold for developments such as supermarkets, car parks and executive homes.

Under sweeping new proposals being studied by ministers, some plots could be used by community groups as neighbourhood gardens or orchards.

Others could be used by schools to teach pupils about wildlife and food production. There are about 330,000 allotments in Britain down from 1.5 million after the Second World War.