FAMILIES who spent thousands of pounds in legal fees to save a patch of grass are facing a new fight to preserve it for future generations.

Seven households in The Hollow, near Crook, were so desperate to claim the half-acre field as their village green that they camped out overnight and spent £4,000 resolving a long-running dispute over ownership.

So they were shocked on Saturday to receive detailed plans by Northumbrian Water to sink an overflow chamber under the ground and top it with concrete slabs measuring 82 sq ft.

The water company moved on to the site on Monday and removed some topsoil but halted operations after residents protested.

Engineers are now looking for alternative sites for the £450,000 overflow, which is one of four planned under a £1m improvement scheme.

Northumbrian Water pledged yesterday to do everything it could to resolve the row.

But Maggie Downie, who chairs the hamlet's residents' association, said: "This is quite extraordinary.

"We were quite prepared to accept work being done under the ground, but we thought it would involve a couple of small manhole covers.

"Everybody was up in arms when we realised how much of the green would be covered in concrete. It would have spoilt it completely. There is other land available which would be much more suitable."

A Northumbrian Water spokesman said: "The work we are doing is for the benefit of the community and will result in improvements to the quality of Beechburn Beck.

"We are contacting our consultants who are investigating the possibility of relocating this chamber. The outcome will depend on the practicality of the engineering solution.