THE National Trust today stands accused of "blatant hypocrisy" after it emerged it has sold off swathes of greenbelt land on the outskirts of Wimborne to developers.

The revelation comes days after the charity's chairman, Sir William Proby, told of his fears about countryside being swallowed by housing estates.

He announced plans to buy up open spaces to prevent over-development in rural areas. But his comments have enraged conservationists and residents.

In 2001, nearly 45 acres of open space bequeathed to the charity was sold to a housing company called Capital Developments.

The area, big enough to build more than 500 homes, is fenced off but locals fear it will be built on when its green belt status is reviewed in 2011.

Rodney Legg, chairman of the Open Spaces Society, said: "The National Trust have been extremely hypocritical here.

"The chairman has made a speech about saving the green belt but it is a bit rich for him to be bleating now after they have been getting rid of acres of the land to speculative developers. It is blatant hypocrisy."

Pensioner Jo Burn, whose home backs on to the open land at Colehill, said: "The chairman has made a speech about how the charity wants to protect green belt land from development yet they sold ours off to a property company. It is double standards.

"I have seen a covenant which states the National Trust will get 50 per cent of the profits made by the developer. All the residents are up in arms."

The land was left to the Trust by landowner Ralph Bankes along with the rest of his 16,000-acre estate in 1981. Farmers tended to the fields for a number of years until the charity sold it to Capital Develop-ments for £310,250 in 2001.

Mr Legg, a member of the National Trust council which scrutinises its work, said: "In total they have sold several hundred acres of the land around Wimborne but I have no idea what terms it has gone under, which is quite worrying."

The land at Colehill acted as a buffer from the neighbouring conurbation and "it would be a tragedy" if it was developed on.

"The National Trust has regarded the Bankes estate as a bank account, selling it off where necessary," added Mr Legg.

A spokesman for the National Trust said it would plough money made on the sale of the land into maintaining the Kingston Lacy estate.

Brendan McCarthy, south-west regional director, said the trust had taken out the covenants so the charity would benefit from any future development.

He said: "Planning designations do change over the decades and we were determined to prevent slipshod developments.

"We also wanted to ensure that the Kingston Lacy estate would benefit if the planning process ever changed the designation."

Amir Sadeh, director of Capital Developments, said: "It is our understanding that this land was bequeathed to the Trust, not because of any conservation value, but conservation work required across the Kingston Lacy estate.

"The agreement that exists between us will provide the National Trust with a significant boost to conservation efforts should development go ahead.

"As a company we actively support sensitive development.

"Indeed, the vast majority of our work over the last 10 years has taken place on brownfield sites.

"However, it is a widely held view that some development will have to take place on green belt sites in order to accommodate housing requirements for local people."

A spokesman for East Dorset District Council confirmed the land was green belt land which will be reviewed in the 2011 East Dorset Local Area Plan.