Heaton residents fed up with a rash of planning applications have launched a campaign to challenge the planners.

Residents claim applications unsympathetic to the village are being approved despite objections.

Elizabeth Hellmich, secretary of the Heaton Township Association, said: "The Council has neglected its duty to ensure developments are sympathetic to the rest of the area."

Mrs Hellmich said action needed to be taken directly by residents to ensure further damage was not done to the village.

She said: "We are worried that planning applications are being rushed through before Heaton becomes a conservation area. An application has recently been granted in the middle of the village to put up a three storey block of flats in Highgate.

"The flats will overshadow other people's properties and are too high to fit in with the rest of Heaton's skyline."

Residents attended a special meeting last night at St Bede's School, Heaton, to launch the campaign.

Mrs Hellmich said: "We called the meeting because we felt like our concerns were being ignored. We want to look at ways to challenge the planner's decisions before it is too late."

A Bradford Council spokesperson said: "Each planning application is taken on its own merits and every representation we receive is taken into consideration.

"Planning applications are determined on their individual merits which includes taking into consideration local development plans and policies, and relevant government guidance."

Mrs Hellmich said residents were also concerned about the number of people in the village who were flouting planning laws.

"Some residents are putting up extensions and making alterations to their properties without any planning consent," said Mrs Hellmich. "It is creating tension which was not there before."

Councillor David Ford said: "The general feeling in the village was that there has been no enforcement of planning laws.

"The residents feel the planning process needs to be more open and honest."

He said he had serious reservations about the way things had been handled.

"Objections to the planning application for the block of flats in Highgate were completely dismissed as was my request for the planning panel to conduct a site visit," he said.

"I am seriously considering taking the matter to a regulatory committee."