VALE of York MP Anne McIntosh today welcomed an expected announcement by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott of a U-turn on Government housing policy, aimed at protecting the countryside from further development.

It follows a recent threat from regional planning chiefs to build a new town for 25,000 people on agricultural land between Ripon and Thirsk.

Mr Prescott is expected to encourage development of "brown field" sites -_ the conversion of empty or run-down properties in built-up areas into new homes, to meet housing needs, as an alternative to building on new green-field sites.

Miss McIntosh today said she would welcome any U-turn by Mr Prescott on countryside development and said it would help bury rumours of a new town in the area.

She said: "I can't believe planning permission would be given to such a place. Everybody is united in their opposition, but we want to scotch rumours from the beginning and would wish Mr Prescott's department to reject this out of hand."

A farmers' leader has spoken out over plans for the new town, which he says is "premier-league agricultural land".

David Palmer, group secretary of Thirsk and Masham branch of the National Farmers' Union, said: "It seems absolutely ridiculous building in the middle of open Vale of York land between two towns which are struggling to survive themselves."

Farmers from the area will discuss the proposals next month.

In a separate announcement, the Council for the Protection of Rural England was today highlighting the problem of the "urban exodus" - a trend for people to move away from urban areas into rural ones - causing a demand for more housing in these areas.

The CPRE says this phenomenon is not a problem in North Yorkshire, and they do not believe any further development of green sites is necessary. It is opposed to the new town scheme.

CPRE spokesman for North Yorkshire, Geoff Mackley, said: "The main thing I'm expecting from John Prescott is that he will reverse the proportion of houses being built, between brown-land and green-land sites. Infill development on small patches of former industrial land happened in York on a great scale, like Aldwark and Walmgate - that's the kind of schemes we applaud. "

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.