Residents of Medstead say their village cannot take any more houses in the wake of Bewley Homes and CALA Homes unveiling plans to build another 850 there.

More than 100 people attended last month’s consultation meetings in Four Marks and Medstead to view the proposals for fields either side of Lymington Bottom Road.

They described the mood as “outrage, anger and bemusement”, with one villager calling it “vandalism by spreadsheet” and another describing it as “a takeover”.

Steve Adams, chair of residents’ action group SMASH, said: “For many, the defining issue is traffic - and the geography is brutal.”

Mr Adams explained that Lymington Bottom Road fed the A31 junction through a single-lane railway tunnel, Boyneswood Road crossed the railway via a single-lane bridge, and the road towards Basingstoke through Medstead village centre was narrowed further by parked cars.

Residents say these constrained roads struggle at rush hour and estimate the estate would put 2,500 extra cars on to unexpandable routes.

Mr Adams said: “You can’t fix a single-lane tunnel with wishful thinking. You just get gridlock - and danger for local residents.”

Designing estates with walking and cycling in mind - in accordance with Hampshire County Council’s Local Transport Plan 4 - to reduce reliance on private car travel was “simply fantasy”, according to locals.

One resident said: “Alton is nearly four miles away. Many people work outside the village. They have to do their weekly shop outside the village. Families in Medstead need cars to live - full stop.”

Mr Adams added: “This isn’t sustainable transport planning. It’s a paper policy used to justify ignoring what everyone can see with their own eyes.”

SMASH canvassed Medstead residents following the consultations and claimed 92 per cent of them opposed the scheme.

Mr Adams called the site “unsustainable, unnecessary, unwarranted and overwhelming for the village”, adding: “Medstead’s message is blunt: enough is enough.”