HUNDREDS of placard-waving demonstrators marched across the Hampshire countryside in protest at plans for a major housing development.

The mass rally was staged by a newly-formed action group called Save Hordle’s Green Belt, which is battling proposals to build a total of 530 homes in the area.

It follows the publication of a controversial new blueprint for housing in the New Forest over the next 20 years.

Up to 10,000 properties could spring up on greenfield sites if the district council’s Local Plan Review 2016-2036 is given the go-ahead.

The council has launched a public consultation exercise, but anyone wishing to comment on its proposals must submit their views by 4pm today.

Claudia Bailey, founder of the action group, said the march aimed to raise awareness of the issue ahead of the deadline.

She added: “I was completely blown away by the level of support. As I walked to the meeting point I could see people pouring in from all directions.”

More than 200 people took part in the march – one of several protests that have been staged in the Forest.

Campaigners claimed the new homes and all the extra facilities needed to serve the influx of residents would turn Hordle into a small town.

At one stage protesters paused near one of the sites under threat and listed the “dramatic” changes that would take place if the land disappeared beneath bricks and mortar.

Ms Bailey said the wildlife haven was home to a raft of species and added: “Protecting our wild places has never been so important.

“Only last week the State of Nature 2016 report announced that the UK is now one of the most ‘nature-depleted’ countries in the world, with more than one in seven species facing extinction and more than half in decline.”

Plans to build hundreds of homes in the Hordle area were also raised at a meeting of the parish council.

Ms Bailey told members: “You only have to look at the three proposed sites to see how the new developments will dominate the village, changing its character forever.

“Creating an urban sprawl, with villages and towns merging into each other, is not the answer.”

Local authorities across the UK are having to earmark more sites for residential development to meet new national housebuilding targets set by the government.

District councillors have warned that ministers could devise their own housing strategy for the Forest if the authority fails to take the necessary action.