Furious campaigners are planning to stage a 'question time' protest over a steam railway office complex which is being built without planning permission.

The protest will be their latest move in their battle to halt the construction of the two-story railway station building at Kingswear they claim should not have been allowed to go ahead.

Around 30 of them have already met Dartmouth MP Dr Sarah Wollaston to spell out their concerns.

Now they plan to turn up in force at South Hams Council's Totnes HQ to question councillors over the legality of the building.

They aim to attend the question time section of the district council's Executive meeting which will be going ahead at Follaton House, Totnes, on Thursday next week.

County councillor Jonathan Hawkins, who is also Kingswear Parish Council chairman, took part in the meeting with Dr Wollaston at the Steam Packet pub.

'There was a clear groundswell of opposition to the offices and to the way the steam railway company has treated the village – with what seems to be contempt.'

The row is centred on the two-storey office complex being built by the Paignton-based Dartmouth Steam Railway and Riverboat Company at its railway station at Kingswear.

The complex – now nearing completion – has been built without planning permission because the company claims it does not need consent because as a railway owner it is exempt as long as the building is on railway station land and part of the railway operation.

The Kingswear Action On Rail and Riverboat Development group – which has already raised a petition of almost 1,000 signatures opposing the building – is furious the development has been allowed to go ahead without planning permission and claims it has wrecked views across the Dart from Kingswear.

They have been backed up by Kingswear parish councillors in an appeal to South Hams Council to order work on the building to halt, launch an independent legal investigation into the planning position and force the railway company to seek planning permission.

So far South Hams Council's legal team's advice has supported the steam railway company's action.

But protesters plan to challenge that advice when they attend the executive meeting, revealed Cllr Hawkins.

He said the campaigners had been 'very pleased' with Dr Wollaston's visit.

He explained that the campaign group wanted South Hams Council to realise just how upset the village is by the railway development and to appeal to the councillors to help them find a solution.

Dr Wollaston said after meeting the protesters: 'I have seen the site for myself and I can see why the people of Kingswear are upset.'

She said she supported the villagers' calls for South Hams Council to challenge the legal situation over planning permission and to force the steam railway company to halt building until it is all sorted out.

'There are lots of issues raised by this and one is the issue of whether this is permitted development,' she said. 'The station has taken the view that they can do whatever they like even though it is in the middle of a conservation zone. We would like to see SHDC challenge that and take further legal advice and also see Lord McAlpine (who runs the company) take specialist legal advice.'

She said that a two-storey building seemed 'completely unnecessary' and added: 'None of this need have happened if there had been consultation with the local community.'