Sandleford protesters want Watership Down site saved

Campaigners say there are other areas the houses could be built

Campaigners are calling on a Berkshire council to stop plans to build 2,000 homes on an area that featured in the novel Watership Down.

In the book Sandleford near Newbury was the site of the original rabbit warren that was destroyed by developers.

West Berkshire wants to use the land for some of the 10,500 houses it has been told to build by the government.

Protesters say other sites around Newbury have been identified and there is a possibility of infill development.

Needed to build

On Sunday the Say No To Sandleford campaign group led a walk across the land.

Speaking at the protest Peter Norman from the group said: "There are other ways of achieving the goal which we'd be very supportive of, but building on this greenfield site that we have here is not the right solution."

A spokesman from West Berkshire Council said it needed to build the houses somewhere and the reason it chose Sandleford site was because of its proximity to existing services and infrastructure.

He said wherever it identified a site for new housing there would be objections.