ORGANISERS were left felling deflated at the disappearance of some of the balloons being used to mark the outline of a proposed development at Upton Marina.

Six helium-filled balloons were tethered at the height of the planned holiday chalets last Thursday. They were meant to stay there until Saturday, so people could judge how obtrusive the chalets would be. But by that time only two were left.

The balloons were part of an environmental impact assessment by landscape architects Carly Tinkler Associates, who launched them with the help of teenagers from Ripple.

Ms Tinkler said: "We know that one of them burst but we think the others proved too tempting and were taken. We're going to do the exercise again in November and we'll have someone there guarding them."

Ms Tinkler's company is gathering views from different sources to assess the impact of the marina development. The objective is to try and pre-empt objections for when the plans go before Malvern Hills District Council's planning committee.

"At the moment opinion has been split roughly 50-50 as to whether it's a good thing or not," she said.