THE prospect of 26,000 more homes being built in and around Weston moved a step closer last week amid claims the town's infrastructure is unfit to cope.

THE prospect of 26,000 more homes being built in and around Weston moved a step

closer last week amid claims the town's infrastructure is unfit to cope.

The draft South West Regional Spatial Strategy, a document that sets out housing numbers, economic plans and transport proposals, has been examined by a

Government-appointed panel for the past six months.

Its recommendations, which will now be sent to the Department for Communities and Local Government, confirm that 9,000 new homes should be built in a new development east of Weston and 3,000 within the town's existing boundaries.

A new 9,000-home development is also planned south west of Bristol, with 5,750 dwellings to be built elsewhere in the district.

Weston's Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate Mike Bell said: "I am concerned about the impact the proposals will have in Weston on roads and essential facilities.

"The plain fact is that existing services such as schools, GP surgeries and motorway junction 21 are struggling to cope with demand. We should not build one single new home until we have that right.

"What we need is an 'I before E' strategy: infrastructure before expansion.