RESIDENTS on the doorstep of a massive new housing development have spoken out against their new neighbour - and claimed its approval was a foregone conclusion.

Last week Wyre Forest district councillors gave the green light to plans for 221 flats and houses on grassland bordered by Mill Lane and Timber Lane off Hartlebury Road in Stourport.

The scheme was given outline planning permission - approving it in principle - earlier this year and now nearby residents claim their protests against the scheme have been in vain.

Twenty-six people wrote to planning chief Mike Parker opposing the development.

Concerns include increased traffic clogging roads, damage to wildlife habitats and disruption during construction - although one resident predicted the development will be an improvement.

"Hartlebury Road is a nightmare anyhow - I just dread to think what's going to happen," said Frances Morley, 60, of The Willows, whose garden overlooks the land.

"I can't see where all the traffic is going to fit in."

She added construction would be a "major disturbance" and her privacy invaded by the "four-storey flats".

Mrs Morley - who wrote a letter of complaint - went on: "I think this was a foregone conclusion. It was never going to make any difference."

She added mallards, kingfishers, woodpeckers and pigeons inhabit the grassland.

Malcolm Harper, of Mill Road, shared Mrs Morley's fears.

"The big concern I have is traffic access - it's going to cause chaos. I don't think the road infrastructure will support what they're trying to do. I don't think they've thought it through.

He added: "A couple of years ago some residents got together to voice opposition, but we were always resigned to it. I don't think the council ever really considered people's views."

Mr Harper, 54, said the area's wildlife, such grass snakes and otters, will "disappear" with the bulldozers' arrival.

But fellow Mill Road resident Stuart Hawken, 59, argued the development would be a "good thing".

"The ground is not doing much at the moment. All it's used for is a tip - people seem to take their rubbish over there," he said.

Mr Parker was not available to comment on the accusations the district council had ridden roughshod over residents' views.

But last week he stated the "most valuable" wildlife habitat will be retained and a riverside walk created.

Previously he had said the highways authority had been "content" with the scheme.