The future of a disused railway cutting is on the timetable for discussion with Alresford residents.

Winchester City Council is considering amending its local plan to make it virtually impossible to build on the site, at Bridge Road, by classifying it as green space.

The cutting, comprising 1.6 acres, has become overgrown since the closure of the Winchester to Alresford line.

The land is owned by Laurie Cook and Nigel Woodham, who bought it in the early 1980s and, on several occasions, they have made unsuccessful applications to build houses there.

Mr Cook says it is brownfield land - just the sort the Government wants to see redeveloped. "Can a local authority really condemn land to dereliction with impunity? This must be wrong, especially at a time when low-cost housing is in crisis," he said.

"This land shouldn't be wasted; it shouldn't be derelict; it shouldn't be a tip."

He says the council has not consulted him over its proposal to change the cutting's status in the local plan.

"Had it not been for a chance remark by an Alresford town councillor, my business partner and I would not have been aware that there was any proposal to change the status of this land."

Mr Cook says he has no intention of applying again for permission to build houses at the cutting.

Residents have welcomed the council's move to change the status of the land. Brian Purkiss, who lives in nearby De-Lucy Avenue, agrees with the council that it should be preserved as an "urban wilderness".

"The residents don't want their environment changed, seeing as it has gradually developed over the last 30 years," he added.

A city council spokesman said the revised local plan would be published next month and residents who lodged comments would have six weeks after the publication date to ask for additional changes before the final plan was published.

The town council is holding a public meeting next Tuesday at 7.30pm in the Edward Knight Centre, by Alresford Station, to give residents the chance to comment.