Campaigners fighting plans for 270 homes on green space at Thackley are furious at the theft of a huge protest banner.

The Hands Off message had been fixed to a farmer’s wall with permission in Leeds Road beside fields where Persimmon Homes want to build.

But the banner, aimed at encouraging commuters to object, was removed over the weekend.

Horsewoman Isobel Burgess, one of those spearheading the fight against the Cote Farm site, said: “I arrived at the nearby stables on Saturday and the banner wasn’t there.

“It was tied on with cable ties and bailer twine and there was a lot used.

“These have all been cut clean with what looks like scissors or a knife.

“It can't be kids or someone who was drunk as the wall hasn’t been broken or disturbed. “You can see the clean-cut cable ties on the ground. Someone has come prepared,” she said.

Miss Burgess said it would only strengthen campaigners’ resolve.

“Volunteers have done an awful lot of hard work regarding this campaign against Persimmon Homes and it will only push us and make us all even more determined,” she said.

Liberal Democrat leader on Bradford Council Jeanette Sunderland, also fiercely opposed to the plan, said she was angered by the theft.

“There really is a very strong community feeling against this development – I’ve never seen anything like it,” she said. “I am angry about the person or people who stole the banner. I’m not sure how low some people can stoop.

“We've put out an appeal for information in case anyone saw anything or if anyone knows where it is.”

Plans for the Cote Farm estate have been formally submitted to Bradford Council, with 1,000 objections lodged against the proposal.

Persimmon Homes West Yorkshire has stressed that every attempt has been made to address the concerns of residents and produce a beneficial development.

“We await a decision from Bradford Council,” a Persimmon spokesman said.