Young campaigners are battling a huge development of nearly 300 homes which they say will swallow up swathes of green fields and destroy wildlife.

Deandra Smith, 13, and Josh Ellis, 12, are opposing controversial plans for houses in Allerton Lane, Allerton, Bradford, put forward by developers Hallam Land Management.

Angry residents claim green fields will be lost if Bradford Council allows planning permission for 292 homes, resulting in creeping urbanisation of what has historically been a rural area.

Increased traffic will cause further major disruption in the area which is already struggling with congestion, according to the Friends of Pitty Beck protest group.

Miss Smith, who lives in Cote Lane, opposite the proposed site, said: “I have lived here all my life and cannot imagine these beautiful fields and the animals that live in them not being there any more."