A VILLAGE could grow by 25 per cent after land was put forward for proposed housing.

Residents in Salterforth fear their village could be 'ruined' after Pendle Council unveiled plans show enough land had been allocated to build more than 40 new houses.

This could see the village’s population, around 600, increase by 200 people.

The potential plans are part of Pendle’s Local Plan, set up in 2011, to build 4,760 homes in the borough.

The sites include land off Kelbrook Road, Sykes Close, and two separate sites in Earby Road.

These sites are pieces of land put forward by private landowners and not outlined by the council.

Residents took to social media to express their concerns.

On Facebook, Nick Livsey said the plans were ‘utter madness'.

He said: “Those landowners should hang their heads in shame for ruining our small village but they obviously do not care.

“There simply is not enough adequate infrastructure in place to cope with such an increase; sewerage, water, gas, local school places, doctors, dentist. Salterforth’s share of housing requirement in Pendle has already been exceeded.”

Eloise Sunley said there was other sites across the area to build on.

She said: “Not impressed one little bit about this, it really does stink what they are doing.

“Why not build on the waste sites in Colne where nothing has been done with the mill that was knocked down.

“There are plenty of areas in Colne or Nelson etc where streets have been knocked down or boarded up and wasted make use of these instead of taking our village away and our fields.”

Other significant sites include land at Ralph Laithe, in Barnoldswick Road in Barrowford, land south of Red Scar Works in Cliff Street, Colne and the former Crownest Mill in Skipton Road, Barnoldswick.

Cllr Ken Hartley, who represents the village on the council, said: “It’s absolutely ludicrous what’s happening.

“I am born and bred in the village and since the 1950s it has changed dramatically.

“These plans could see around 46 homes being built, with the amount of families that would chance the landscape of the village.

“All those extra families would need infrastructure, the facilities have dropped off here so there’s less here for them.

“We have to stress the areas outlined are put forward by land owners and not the council.

“This shows the planning system handed down from the government doesn’t work in all areas.

“The rate of growth in areas like here are considerably less than those in London, we don’t need to build these extra houses.”