CAMPAIGNERS are fighting plans to bulldoze a Victorian cottage next to a Hampshire pub.

New Forest District Council has received several objections to an application to replace a 170,000 cottage at Lower Buckland Road, Lymington, with three new homes.

Protesters include members of the Lymington Society, which describes the scheme as over-development.

In a letter to the district council it says any development on the site should reflect the character and architecture of the neighbouring Borough Arms and "not that of the development opposite".

Peter Clapham, of Priestlands Place Lymington, has also written to the council.

He says the demolition of the cottage would result in "one more morsel" of the town's history being lost forever.

Mr Clapham adds: "Why this was not listed in 1974, when the majority of Lymington's historic assets received protection, is unfortunate.

"Just down the road was a terrace of houses known as Rosetta Place, which were demolished as part of slum clearance.

"The plan to replace this house will make the whole sire cramped. At least the Rosetta Place houses had gardens."

Helen Punkett, of Lower Buckland Road, describes the proposed development as overcrowding. The describes the design as "awful" and bears no resemblance to the Borough srms.

A design and access statement that forms part of the application says the scheme aims to provide "small and therefore affordable" homes in a sustainable location.

It adds: "The house is not listed and not in a conservation area. It is in a poor state of repair."