A RESIDENTS' group is urging a council to scrap plans for a housing development after a planning inspector advised against it.

As part of an inquiry into the Local Plan for the Durham area, Government planning inspector John Sheppard looked closely at proposals for 149 homes on green space near Broom Lane, in Ushaw Moor.

The scheme, which has already won planning permission from Durham City Council, is being spearheaded by the Durham Villages Regeneration Company - a partnership between the council and Doncaster developer Keepmoat.

According to the council, it would breathe new life into Ushaw Moor and nearby villages by attracting private investment.

But the scheme has attracted strong opposition from residents, who attempted unsuccessfully to block it by securing village green status for the site.

Now, their arguments that the village does not need so many new homes and that the regeneration benefits would be limited have been echoed by Mr Sheppard, whose report states: "There is no demonstrable need for this amount of additional housing.

"The need for regeneration in north-west Durham is indeed great. However, I am not convinced that in itself, the addition of new housing in such numbers to a single village would be wholly beneficial to other nearby villages, or that even this potential number of additional inhabitants would be sufficient to secure the future of existing shops or services."

Mr Sheppard also joins residents in expressing concern over the loss of the recreation area, and recommends that the council scraps the plans.

Dr Douglas Pocock, secretary of the City of Durham Trust, which has consistently opposed the development, said that although the council could reject Mr Sheppard's advice, he hoped it would not.

"Since the inspector's report comes down so strongly against it, I have written a letter urging the local authority not to go ahead with planning permission," he said.

Durham City Council was unavailable for comment on the report.