Residents have called for a blueprint outlining where new homes should be built in their town to be rejected, saying it does not represent the views of people in the area.

However responding to the criticism, Downham Market mayor David Sharman said his town council had been as fair as possible, adding: 'We are not councillors just for that particular area – we represent the whole town.'

About 35 residents attended last night's Downham Market Town Council planning and environment committee meeting, where the Local Development Framework - which says that 16,500 new homes need to be built by 2026 to meet the needs of a growing population - was being discussed.

They raised a number of concerns about the suggestion in the West Norfolk Borough Council (WNBC) document that around 400 of those should be built in the town and surrounding areas like Wimbotsham.

However Mr Sharman told residents the town council's position was that it did not want any homes - but that in the event it had to make room for 400-or-so, it was better to share the burden across the area by splitting the development into smaller chunks.

'All we can do is to be as fair as possible to everyone affected,' Mr Sharman said before the meeting.

Read tomorrow's EDP for more details.