ALLOTMENT holders whose plots could be swallowed up by a housing development may be offered an alternative site.

Land on the edge of Howden-le-Wear has been earmarked for new gardens, replacing a three-acre site in the village centre where generations of residents have grown their fruit and vegetables.

First, the environment agency Groundwork West Durham will check the suitability of the land, which is on the A689 east of Valley Terrace.

Wear Valley District Council has commissioned a report from the agency looking at possible subsidence and contamination, flooding risk and vehicle and pedestrian access.

The 20 gardeners who tend the present allotment site were given a year's notice to quit by the council last October. The council leases the land from private owners and has a statutory duty to provide alternative plots.

Since the notices went out, builders George Wimpey have submitted a planning application to the council for 41 homes on the allotments and on an adjoining plot at the rear.

Howden-le-Wear residents, including some allotment holders, held a public meeting to protest about the development. Residents said it would be out of place in a village environment.

Allotment association secretary David Quinn, who is also a district councillor, said that members would be reluctant to accept the new site.

He said: "I am confident that the feasibility study, which is to be carried out by Groundwork, will find that the land is not suitable.

"It is too far from the village, the field floods and there are old mineworkings in that area.

"At the end of the day, the allotment holders do not want to move. It would mean the end of a way of life because the site has been in the centre for more than 100 years and plots are passed down through generations.

"The Government is promoting healthy eating and exercise but we see houses being built on open spaces like this. It does not make any sense."