A CAMPAIGN against plans to turn an area where children play area into car parking spaces is being stepped up.

People living in a cul-de-sac on Valley Road, Northallerton, have joined forces to fight to save an area of green space and have written letters of objection to Hambleton District Council.

The campaigners have now enlisted the help of Northallerton mayor Jack Dobson.

Campaigner Michelle Smales lives in Valley Road. She said: "We need as much support as possible so that our concerns are heard.

"None of us want to see our green verge being turned into parking spaces."

The controversial proposal forms part of a plan to build 75-homes in Knotto Bottom and Cotcliffe Avenue.

The application has been submitted to the district council by Yuill Homes and Broadacres Housing Association.

Yuill Homes wants to widen the road at the entrance of the cul-de-sac and compensate for any parking spaces that are lost by creating new ones on the green.

A spokesman for Yuill Homes said that the parking area would not result in a significant loss of the grass verge.

He said: "However, if other options can be found, then we would be more than happy to discuss them with the council's planning officers."

In a letter to Maurice Cann, the council's head of development service, Valley Road resident Katja Tolonen-Wilkinson said she was appalled at the proposals to take away any more green space.

She said: "The developers would absolutely ruin the one thing we want to save which is the green.

"If they are allowed to do this we would also loose the three trees that contribute towards a better living environment."

Mr Dobson attended a meeting with the residents and advised them about what steps to take in preparation for the councils' development control committee meeting on Thursday.

He said: "The bottom line is that these people cannot have their amenities taken away from them and that is what the large grass area is - an amenity where their children play."