Village campaigners have launched a last-minute petition in a bid to challenge the £80m developer's masterplan for hundreds of new homes on the edge of Dartmouth.

The campaigners are furious over Millwood Homes' attempts to extend the original boundary for the development which will gobble up even more green fields.

More on this story in this week's Dartmouth Chronicle

And they fear that Dartmouth is 'sleepwalking' into 400 new homes it may not need.

They also claim the 18-month consultation exercise launched by the Ashburton-based developer was 'invisible or shambolic'.

The Stoke Fleming-based campaign group has already set up a NO! 2 West Dart Development on-line petition declaring their opposition to the masterplan which is due to be considered by South Hams Council in the near future.

And they are planning to launch a massive leafleting campaign covering both Stoke Fleming and Dartmouth, starting this week after having 10,000 leaflets printed.

They claim that representation from local people over the huge development of more than 400 new homes have been largely ignored.

David Scanland, a leading figure in the campaign group, said: 'We are not objecting to development in the town but we think a controlled, sensible amount of development is probably what the town needs. Is the West Dart masterplan for the developers or the council or are we looking at what is right for Dartmouth?'

And fellow campaigner Tom Boughton added: 'Most people in Dartmouth don't seem to be aware of what is happening.