RESIDENTS at Fair Oak are bidding to force Eastleigh planning chiefs into a U-turn over proposals that they claim would rob their village of its rural charm.

Villagers packed an executive council meeting to demand changes in the borough's planning blueprint to stop developers being given the green light to move into the community.

In the new draft borough plan, the designation of an area that includes ten housing plots along Winchester Road has been altered from countryside to urban land.

This would allow developers to move in, say residents.

Eastleigh Borough Council planners are under heavy pressure from Hampshire County Council to provide about 6,500 homes by 2011.

But locals turned out in force at the Eastleigh council executive meeting to tell them exactly what they thought of the idea.

Resident Derrick Lewis, of Winchester Road, said: "Three properties along this stretch of Winchester Road are listed buildings. High-density development would be completely out of place in such a setting.

"The conversion of open roadside space to dwellings, or intensification of existing development, will work to destroy the identity of Fair Oak as a rural village. High-density development would have an immediate adverse effect. It would increase the number of vehicles turning on an already busy, narrow road."

He said the existing gardens and plots, together with the surrounding fields, were a haven for wildlife and any change would only disrupt their environment further.

He added: "The change was not even highlighted on the map.

"Surely it is reasonable to expect the owners to be notified of such a proposal which directly affects the status of their property - you notify us of individual applications on adjacent properties, so why not this?"

Following a move by council leader Keith House, who chaired the meeting, council officers will report on the matter in December.

Mr House said to the residents: "Thank you for bringing this to our attention it would have slipped through the net otherwise."