RESIDENTS of a housing complex for the over-55s are calling on councillors to help keep their area peaceful.

People in Harlow Grange Park, a 23-home development of bungalows and flats on the western approach to Harrogate, fear they could soon have noisy children as neighbours unless the borough council blocks the plan.

Developers have lodged plans to demolish neighbouring Harlow Cottage, off Otley Road close to Harlow Carr Botanical Gardens, and turn the site and its large garden into a pair of semi-detached cottages and two detached houses.

But the idea has brought a fierce protest from Harlow Grange Park, where residents are shareholders in a management company that looks after their interests.

Their objection has been backed by Harrogate Civic Society, which is urging the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to intervene by adding Harlow Cottage to the register of buildings listed for architectural or historic merit, which would mean it could not be bulldozed.

A spokesman for the Harlow Grange Park management committee said of the plan: ''It shows a cynical disregard for the attractiveness of the area and is at odds with the desire of the council to enhance the main approaches to Harrogate."

He said all residents of Harlow Grange Park were subject to an over-55s rule, which ensured a quiet and peaceful neighbourhood.

The spokesman said that there was no play area included in the development plans for the site.

He said: ''Children would almost certainly choose to play in the private grounds of Harlow Grange Park, thereby creating noise and introducing an unacceptable hazard of mixing children with traffic.''

A council development control committee will debate the application on Tuesday.

Planning officer Sara Purvis is likely to urge refusal on the grounds of highway safety and the potential damage to the area's character.