Villagers marched through Sedgemoor District Council’s offices in protest of Bloor Homes’ housing plans on Tuesday.

People from Cheddar piled into the public gallery to oppose the developer's plan for 134 homes north of Holwell Lane, which would see a road built across a well-used path.

The 200-year-old lane is a public right of way and a popular commuter route used by walkers, cyclists, dog owners and school children and protesters wore Save Holwell Lane T-shirts on the day in support of the cause.

The pathway also links villagers to Sharpham Road playing fields, Cheddar Reservoir and the Strawberry Line. Parish and district councillors joined the protest.

Chairman of Cheddar Parish Council, Peter Colton, said: "Running a road across Holwell Lane will endanger many pedestrians and cyclists who use it daily."

The planned road would link the proposed Bloor development with its existing estate which sits south of Holwell Lane.

Parish councillors argue this would more than double traffic travelling through the area, and would require vehicles from both estates to use a single junction to join the A371 in Upper New Road.

Cllr Colton said: "The community would support this application if there was a separate junction onto the A371 at the north end of the site, as was written into Sedgemoor's adopted local plan.

"We feel all the traffic from both north and south sites using a single junction will cause chaos and confusion."

"This is a clear case of profit over people and this breaches the district council's own local plan policy."

Sedgemoor District Council deferred a decision on the plans at its development committee meeting on Tuesday, pending a site visit by its councillors on August 29.

Cheddar Parish Council has requested Sedgemoor rejects Bloor Homes' plan.

It hopes to register the public right of way as village green space to give it lasting protection in the area.