NEIGHBOURS are opposing plans for four homes on land in a village conservation area.

An application to build four three-storey houses on the site of a former county council depot in the centre of Sedgefield has been submitted to Sedgefield Borough Council.

But people living in Rectory Row, next to the site of the proposed development, say the land is inappropriate for housing.

Cheryl Collins, who organised a meeting of residents to oppose the proposal, said: "I think it is totally wrong in the middle of a conservation area. There are going to be four houses looking right over the gardens. It is just totally out of order."

The plan also includes a road leading to nearby Sedgefield Primary School, which Mrs Collins fears could prove dangerous for children and mothers walking to school.

She says she believes the land would be more suitable for use as a car park, because there is a shortage of parking spaces in the village

"The last chance of having a car park in the middle of the village is on that plot of land," Mrs Collins said.

The planning application is due to be considered by members of the council's development control committee at a meeting on August 24, at 10am.

If approved, the recommendation will have to go to the Government Office for the North-East for consideration before a certificate is granted, because it is in a conservation area.