YET more criticism has been heaped on plans to build thousands of homes in East Dorset's green belt - this time by a conservation body.

Dorset's Campaign to Protect Rural England damned government plans to "cram" 37,000 new homes into East Dorset, Poole and Bournemouth.

The scheme would see 3,000 homes spread over Corfe Mullen, Colehill, Wimborne and Parley Cross and another 600 at Roeshot Hill, Christchurch.

Chairman of East Dorset CPRE, Charles Buxton, told the county branch's AGM: "The East Dorset council were forced to agree to take these unsustainable houses by threats that the regional government would dictate that these houses must be included in the plan."

Speaking after the meeting, Poole CPRE chairman Terry Stewart, said : "We're very concerned because it breaches the principle of the greenbelt which has been a national policy since the CPRE persuaded the government to introduce it in the '50s to stop urban sprawl.

"There's the whole question of the greenbelt as a recreational green lung, not just for local residents but for the people of Poole and Bournemouth.

"It's a very firm government policy to stop long commutes - the more you increase the commuties the more you will increase the travel into Bournemouth and Poole."

Mr Stewart said Deputy PM John Prescott had pressured regional government to try to impose 800,000 new homes on the South West - 70,000 of which would be destined for Dorset.

"That is far too many - why on earth should we put up with this massive invasion?" he said.

"We question the actual need for all these houses. What we do see is a desperate need for affordable housing but 75 per cent of all new houses in Dorset since 1980 have been bought by inward migrants from London and the regions.

"We have some of the highest house prices in the country; at the moment the average house price in Dorset is nine times the average income and you can't get a mortgage for nine times what you earn It's particularly bad in rural areas where farmworkers, for example, earn low wages."