Some of Burley's most historic houses are in danger of being dwarfed by a proposed new development, it is being claimed.

Developers want to build eight three-storey townhouses in the heart of the village's conservation area next to homes which date back to before the English Civil War.

Now local people are mounting a campaign of objection in what could be the first test of the village design statement.

An application to build the four-bedroomed properties on the site of the MCC Garage and Otley Carpet Mills store has been submitted to Bradford planners.

Local people and the community council were alerted to the application during the Burley Forum and they were warned that the deadline for objections was February 4.

Five of the proposed houses on the Main Street site would be three-storey and the remaining three would be two and a half storey.

The Burley Community Council is calling a special meeting to discuss the issues involved and to formulate its own response.

Meanwhile, former community council member John Gundry said the application would be the first test for the village design statement.

He stressed that the issue would be important not just in its own right but as an indication of the value of the design statement.

More than 30 local residents attended a public meeting on Saturday to prepare objections to the proposals.

Speaking on behalf of local objectors Paul Roberts said: "People in the village are angry because this planning application has no regard for the historic buildings that surround it. These three-storey houses will dwarf many local homes, some of which date back to 1640, if planners give the scheme the go-ahead."

He argued that the eight planned car parking spaces were clearly inadequate for eight four-bedroomed houses.

And he stressed: "This is the first real test of the Village Design Statement (VDS) which Burley Community Council spent three years working on and which has now been adopted by Bradford council.

"If the planners give this scheme the thumbs up, then they will have ridden roughshod over the VDS and the relationship between the community council and Bradford planners will be damaged beyond repair."

He added: "Finally, if the developer gave a fig for the future look of the village, he would not be putting a development such as this before the planners.

"It is our duty to fight against this scheme to protect the look of Burley-in-Wharfedale for current and future generations and we would urge as many people in the village as possible to object to it."

At Holgate Developments, the company putting the scheme forward, no-one was available for comment.