Campaigners opposing a massive housing development have paid £18,000 from their own pockets to hire experts to fight the plan.

They have brought in a barrister and back-up team to put their case against Bradford Council's proposal to earmark land off Sty Lane, Micklethwaite, near Bingley, for housing.

And the barrister representing Greenhill Action Group (GAG) told an inquiry that inadequate research had led to green fields in Bradford being earmarked for a huge housing estate

The proposal sparked 547 objections and is the most controversial plan in the Unitary Development Plan, which is subject to a long inquiry at Victoria Hall, Saltaire.

Their barrister Christopher Young said the fact GAG raised the cash was proof of how strongly residents felt about the scheme. They fear the development will result in environmental problems and the area will not have amenities like school and health centre places to cope with a massive influx of residents.

Mr Young said Bradford Council rushed into selecting greenfield sites across the district when other sites may have been more suitable.

"Greenfield sites are brought forward because of a lack of desire to take a more pro-active approach," he said.

Town and urban planner Alyn Nicholls, who produced a report on behalf of GAG, said it would have been better if the Council had done an urban housing capacity study, as Leeds City Council did.

He said Leeds had a target of 66 per cent of its housing allocation to be provided on brownfield sites and its final figure was almost 80 per cent.

He said Bradford had the lowest target in the country and he revealed a list of possible brownfield sites total-ling about 55 hectares which could be used for housing.

"This is the tip of the iceberg," he said.

On Friday, Redrow Homes, the developer interested in building on the site, will be giving evidence at the inquiry from 10am.