VILLAGE protestors are banking on people power to halt a scheme they claim will bring danger to their community.

West Rainton Parish Housing Action Group stepped up its campaign at the weekend to block an executive housing development and new traffic light system, calling on every village resident to put pen to paper.

Campaigners hope to force developers Bryant Homes and Wimpey Homes to stick by planning inspectors' rulings that the 193-home development must include a mini bypass.

But campaigners claim the developers have dropped plans for an expensive junction and flyover and have proposed instead the cheaper option of traffic lights.

The developers have already won the backing of Durham County Council, but the action group is persisting in its claim that the latest proposal, next to the busy A690 Durham to Sunderland road, will bring dangerous conditions to their community.

Protestors also believe that the county council was influenced in its decision by nearly £1m worth of incentives offered by the builders.

The final decision for the development will rest with Durham City Council, which has received 160 letters of objection over the issue.

Yesterday the action group sent leaflets to every household in the village, inviting residents to register their written opposition to the scheme.

Spokeswoman Lesley King said: "It cannot be emphasised strongly enough that the proposed installation of a traffic lights scheme is a retrograde step and can only lead to a greater concentration of traffic travelling through our village."

Confirming that everyone in the village had been asked to express their views, she said: "People have a right to have a say about what happens in their local communities."

The group, she said, was adamant that if the development went ahead the bypass must be an integral part.

Residents, who are supported by Durham MP Gerry Steinberg, insist a graded junction is necessary to ensure road safety.

Such a junction was recommended by a planning inspector who approved a smaller development in the 1990s.