A CAMPAIGN has been launched in an attempt to quash an application for a block of flats which threatens to overshadow South Bucks' top tourist attraction Bekonscot Model Village.

Residents are throwing their weight behind the campaign and Beaconsfield Town Council has received 15 letters of objection. The application for outline planning permission has now been submitted to South Bucks District Council. The plan is for a three-storey block of nine two-bedroom flats in Warwick Road, Beaconsfield, which will overlook the model village.

The campaign has been co-ordinated by Peter Neeves, who lives next door to the proposed new development, and Barry Newman, public relations manager at the village.

Bekonscot is the most visited tourist attraction in South Bucks with more than 200,000 visitors every year, and Mr Newman is fearful of the effects the flats would have on the historic site.

He said: "Our main problem is that Bekonscot will never be quite the same again if this gets the go-ahead."

Mr Neeves said the flats would block the light from his property and cause unacceptable congestion around his driveway.

Town Cllr Malcolm Dunlop said in six years on the council he had never known a planning application to generate 15 letters of objection.

He said: "These flats would be right in the middle of the houses on the road and would cause a complete break of the street scene. It will almost completely impinge on Bekonscot which is a heritage site and this must be very carefully looked at. This is of national, not just local, importance."

The applicant's agent, John Millard, refused to comment.