RESIDENTS of Areley Kings have voiced their fears about housing development plans on nearby field following severe flooding.

Barratt Homes, with Harris Lamb property consultancy, hope to develop up to 370 houses on land adjacent to Pearl Lane and Dunley Road in Stourport.

A petition against the plans has now received over 200 signatures from residents worried about the development and its effect on congestion, wildlife and other issues.

Resident Derek Duggan, who started the petition, said: "I can't understand how a field like the one at Pearl Lane can be shortlisted for development because of all the flooding.

"I'm afraid that houses would get flooded out."

He says that the plans "contravene the buffer zone which is there to protect Areley Wood." He also says the development will cause further congestion.

Barratt Homes hosted an exhibition in December at The Civic, Stourport, to showcase the plans and discuss public concerns.

Kidderminster Shuttle: Residents of Areley Kings at the exhibitionResidents of Areley Kings at the exhibition

Resident Ms Newhill says she's "horrified" by the idea houses could be developed on the land.

She said: "There's an awful lot of water in this area. I can't believe it.

"The plan doesn't seem to have been thought out properly.

"With all the flooding that's been going on around the country, this needs to be taken into consideration."

Resident Hayden Wootton, who used to take his dog for walks on the fields, said: "It's a crazy scheme to try and build houses on there."

"The land is on a slope and the water is going to flow from the top and take everything with it.

"This problem is going to happen all the time. "

A spokesperson for Barratt Homes West Midlands said: “In preparation of submitting a planning application for new homes on the Pearl Lane site, all the necessary surveys, along with a flood risk assessment, have been undertaken and will be fully assessed by the relevant bodies during the planning process.”

Councillor Fran Oborski, Cabinet Member for Economic Regeneration, Planning and Capital Investments said: “The land will not appear in any final adopted Local Plan until sometime in 2021.

"In the meantime there is nothing to prevent a developer from promoting a site that is proposed in the draft Local Plan, nor from submitting a planning application; it will be at their risk that it would not be an allocated site in the Plan and therefore might not be granted permission.”