FORMER seaman Harry Davison's dream of creating a fantasy wood packed with elves and goblins could yet be scuppered.

Mr Davison, a devotee of JRR Tolkien, has already started work on his Elfinwood, set in seven acres on the outskirts of Crook, County Durham.

He and his wife,Val, have been moving in all manner of creatures featured in Tolkien's classic book, The Lord of the Rings.

But Wear Valley District Council planners will tomorrow recommend that councillors refuse planning permission for development of the fairy wood.

Their objections centre on traffic access to the site and old mine workings under the wood, which they describe as unsafe.

Mr Davison, who will be presenting a full report on his Elfinwood project to the meeting of the council's planning committee, said he was determined to carry on.

He said he and his wife had already spent £30,000 of their savings buying the wood and installing the Tolkien characters, and walkways and tree bridges. They eventually hope to build a cafe-shop and underground Hobbit houses,

The Davisons, who live at Howdon, North Tyneside, started work on Elfinwood last July. They say they have had support from local people and even councillors.

"It's the planning officers we just don't seem able to get through to," said Mr Davison. "We have met with nothing but hostility from them. We wish they could be a bit more enlightened."

Wear Valley's director of planning, Bob Hope, said officers had consulted widely on the plans: "We are very sympathetic to any proposal to develop tourism in the area, but the Davisons have gone ahead with developments on this site without seeking planning permission."

Mr Davison said he was determined to create an Elfinwood, if not in Wear Valley, then perhaps in Northumberland or France