The Government has been urged to come clean over whether it is taking seriously a controversial scheme for thousands of new homes in West Sussex.

Nick Gibb, Tory MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, said the continued uncertainty about plans for an "eco-town" at Ford airfield were "worrying a lot of residents" and called on ministers unequivocally to rule out the development.

The plan for 5,000 low-carbon homes, a business park, railway station and secondary school on the disused site between Littlehampton and Arundel is one of about 60 schemes to have been submitted for consideration to the Department for Communities and Local Government, which has pledged to build ten eco-towns across the country by 2020.

The Ford Airfield Vision Group, the consortium of developers behind the proposal, said it would provide affordable homes and improve wages.

However, MPs and Arun District Council have come out against the plans, arguing the area would not be able to cope with an additional 5,000 homes on top of the 11,000 it has already been ordered to provide by 2026.

Mr Gibb spoke out after Communities Secretary Hazel Blears admitted many of the proposals submitted to her department were "not likely ever to happen".

Ms Blears had been expected to publish a shortlist of up to 20 schemes to go forward to the next stage of the planning process last month but told The Argus only that the list was coming "fairly soon".

She said: "I can't tell you when the decision is going to be but we do want to get on with this quickly.

"There are quite a lot of applications submitted that, quite frankly, would never go through the process.

"Some were reheated planning applications which have already been refused and were not the kind of thing that we wanted to see coming forward.

"I am as anxious to get rid of those as anyone else because what we have now is a series of people being worried about things that are not likely ever to happen.

"The more that we can concentrate on the ones that are likely to go forward the better for everyone.

"We won't proceed with applications that aren't very high quality.

"All of them will be subjected to proper planning process.

"Everyone will have the right to get involved and make representations.

"They are not simply going to be imposed."

Mr Gibb said: "I don't want Ford to be on the list. The delay is worrying a lot of residents in Ford, Arundel and Climping.

"My real desire is that Ford does not appear on the list but the continued wait is not good for anyone and particularly worries residents in the area."