A 380 home housing scheme for Bramhope has been thrown out by planners.

Miller Homes had applied to create the houses, along with a convenience store, off Breary Lane East - and claimed they would help address Leeds' housing shortage by providing "high quality family homes".

But more than 800 local residents and councillors objected to the proposals, fearing their impact on the village's roads, school and other services and the loss of green fields.

Leeds City Council officers shared some of those concerns and now the City Plans Panel has unanimously supported a recommendation to refuse permission.

Panel member Councillor Colin Campbell (Lib Dem, Otley & Yeadon) said: "I think this is a positive decision because the development as proposed would not only mean the loss of green fields but would have created major traffic

problems.

"There was some discussion about using green belt land to provide green space for the development, so we also added an extra condition to say we felt that was wrong."

The council concluded that the the scheme “failed to demonstrate that the proposals can be accommodated safely and satisfactorily on the local highway network” and “would be detrimental to the safe and free flow of traffic and pedestrian and cycle user convenience and safety”.

It was also judged to have "so far" failed to "provide necessary contributions for the provision of affordable housing, education, green space, public transport, travel planning and off site highway works”.

Local MP Greg Mulholland (Lib Dem, Leeds North West), who was one of the objectors, said: "I welcome the decision to refuse permission for this development.

"The scale of it was too big and it just would not have fitted in with the character of a village like Bramhope.

"It also threatened much-valued local green space which local residents naturally did not want to lose.

"The council has also brought forward some very strong concerns relating to safety for road users and that is a further reason why this is the right decision for Bramhope."

The report to the panel concluded that the proposal raised "local sustainability concerns", including the possible need for a new village school to be built on the site.

And it would constitute a "scale of growth which has not yet been determined through the - still being finalised - Site Allocations Plan."