JUBILANT villagers celebrated after seeing off plans for new housing they said would destroy their community.

Developer Dunelm Castle Homes applied for permission to build 12 homes on the Russell Close garage by the A691 bypass in Lanchester, near Consett.

Derwentside District Council's development control committee went against planning officers' advice and turned down the application, on the grounds that it was outside the main village framework and would damage the attractive nature of the surrounding open hillsides.

Coun Ossie Johnson, one of the ward members on the district council, said: "We are enormously relieved. This goes to show that, if a community pulls together and has right on its side, you can overcome even the most difficulty circumstances."

The site falls within the village's designated conservation area and outside the area earmarked by the council for development.

Villagers said that, if the authority had approved the plan, it would give developers a foothold on greenfield land, leading to a much bigger development that would spell the end for village life. Villagers also wanted to keep the car repair business that occupies the site.

Coun Johnson said: "This would have given the area a totally suburban feel and we want to keep the atmosphere of our village."

Lanchester Parish Council clerk Jim Owens said: "The A691 has always been a natural boundary between the village and the open countryside and we really are absolutely delighted that it will now remain so." In unprecedented scenes at the council meeting last week, councillors were greeted outside Consett Civic Centre by villagers waving placards and around 80 residents packed the council chamber to hear the application discussed.

The leader of the district council Alex Watson said: "I have never seen so many people in the chamber.

"Emotions ran high, but they conducted themselves very well. They gave us good reasons to turn the application down and we agreed with them."

He said if the developer appealed against the decision, the council will back villagers.

He said: "People have deep concerns over this. If the developer appeals, we will ask the Government for a public inquiry."