Britain's countryside under attack: CPRE

Large areas of Britain's green and pleasant land are under threat because of the government's rigid plans for housing developments, warns the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

According to the CPRE, by 2020 over 27,000 hectares of greenfield land - the equivalent of more than 36,000 football pitches or an area the size of Birmingham – could be lost to housing developments following the current market downturn.

Kate Gordon, CPRE's senior planner, says that inflexible government targets and planning rules are forcing local councils across the country to "needlessly allocate greenfield land for housing".

"In a period of economic decline developers will inevitably cherry pick green fields over less profitable brownfield locations," she warns.

Therefore, Ms Gordon claims it is vital that targets are revised to safeguard such areas and ensure that Britain recycles brownfield land and empty buildings before building on green fields.

Gordon Brown has promised that three million new homes will be built by 2020.