Campaigners have sent a plea to Horsham District Council not to build an extra 580 homes in their village.

The Southwater Action Group has presented council chairman Elizabeth Kitchen with a 110-page document opposing the scheme.

The group said the village has suffered for years from years of "destructive indulgences at the hands of developers."

The group's statement says: "This is more than just an intensely-researched response to a development plan consultation document.

"It is a plea from a village that is now on the brink. The village is reeling.

"In the next round it is likely to lose forever its last remaining links with its rural past."

The group, formed in September 1999, believes its activities were effective in reducing the potential number of houses in the area from 2,300 to 580.

On a regional level, the group is also questioning the number of houses being imposed by the Government.

It will campaign for the use of brownfield sites and the 750,000 empty properties elsewhere in the UK.

It says: "In 20 years of remorseless urban expansion, Southwater has vastly outgrown its facilities and road network. Even now, unsympathetic structures are still being erected.

"But what is causing the greatest shadow is fear of the future - a future of continued contempt for any sense of consideration or fairness by the planning authorities."

Councillor Kitchen said it was a well thought-out and professional document.