PLANS to build more than 1,000 new homes in an East Dorset village have been described as "outrageous" by residents who are pleading for a rethink.

The community in Alderholt has come together to slam council planners for earmarking land for major residential development.

Hundreds of residents filled the village hall last week for a meeting organised by Alderholt Parish Council to discuss a response to East Dorset District Council's local plan consultation.

After long discussions about the proposals, members overwhelmingly voted to submit a full objection to the plans.

Cllr Gina Logan, chairman of the parish council and elected representative for the village on the district council, was the only parish councillor who voted to support the local plan with a series of conditions.

Resident Debbie Jacobs, who has lived in Alderholt for more than 30 years, set up a petition to highlight the community's opposition to the proposals.

Within three days it had already been signed by more than 450 people, with a paper version also being distributed to homes.

"Alderholt is a small rural community with no real infrastructure at all," Ms Jacobs said.

"Roads in and out are not good enough as it is. Parts of the village are not on the main sewage network.

"There is one primary school, one shop, one pub. It is just not the place to build an outrageous amount of homes." Ms Jacobs said the village hall was packed for the meeting and residents were "completely against" the local plan proposals.

"I know we need housing, but it will just become a village with traffic in and out of it all the time," she said.

"The feeling in the village is very against it.

"The response to the petition has made me realise there is a strong feeling about this."

The Daily Echo contacted Cllr Logan to discuss her stance on the local plan, but she said she had no comment to make after the parish council meeting.

East Dorset is attempting to meet a housing supply of 8,840 homes between 2013 and 2033.

This includes building "a minimum of 1,000 dwellings" on land to the south and west of Alderholt, mostly on land near Ringwood Road.

The consultation on the local plan options document closed last week and the council will now consider the responses before proceeding with the policies.