A COUNCILLOR has called for a 200-year-old cottage to be declared a listed building to stop it from being knocked down to make way for a housing development.

Simon Theakston, who represents the Harlow Moor ward on Harrogate Borough Council, wants Harlow Cottage to be listed.

In August, developers submitted plans to demolish the cottage, in Otley Road, Harrogate, and build three houses on the land where the one building has stood for 200 years.

The plans were withdrawn on the day they were to be debated by planners, but Coun Theakston fears the developers could return with a revised application.

He said: "In a bid to protect Harlow Cottage, I have written to the Department Of Culture, Media and Sport to have it declared a listed building.

"If Harlow Cottage was to become listed then those wishing to flatten it would have to think again as its exterior would be protected from even the most minor of alterations."