Angry residents who met to protest about plans for 76 new homes in Tankersley fear there will 'not be a blade of grass' left in the village if the schemes are approved.

More than 80 villagers crammed into Tankersley Welfare Hall to make their objections clear to the parish council and to local MP Angela Smith.

The parish council and Barnsley councillors Robert Barnard and John Wilson guided residents through the process of objecting to the schemes put forward by Jaguar Estates/Wortley Construction for the fields off Pilley Green/Lidgett Lane and New Road/Lidgett Lane.

Villagers said the 'executive' homes were not affordable for locals and would swamp the green gap between Tankersley and Pilley with 'urban sprawl.' They would also put impossible pressure on the local school, roads, drainage and waste systems.

Jacqui Millson was among those worried about the impact on road safety. "Most of these homes will have two cars on average and will be making a minimum of two journeys a day. Some of our roads are already dangerous," she said.

Coun Barnard feared 'salami' development, in that the developers could apply numerous times to build more and more homes, perhaps resulting in more than 100 houses.

He said: "Developers only have to be lucky once and get one application through. People objecting have to be successful every time. It is an unfortunate flaw with the planning system."

One resident Don Lee, who is 82, said extra pressure on drainage would worsen risk of flooding. "I have fetched cars out of water that's a yard deep and I already have a pump in my cellar that pumps 900 gallons a minute," he said.

Ms Smith urged residents to get together and form an action group, and ensure that all their objections were valid planning ones and that they were submitted as soon as possible.

Tankersley parish council meets on Tuesday to further discuss the scheme.