Ref. 27770-16The council's plans have been met with a combination of outrage and confusion.

Most residents and land users around Coate think developing the area would be disastrous and destroy what little countryside is left in Swindon.

Emily Self has been housing her horse Topie at Day House Farm stables for five months but fears development will spell the end of the stables and render her horse homeless.

Mrs Self, a riding instructor from Westbury Road, in Penhill, said: "If these stables go my husband and I will probably have to sell up and move back to Newbury.

"It will upset the horses but otherwise there will be nowhere to keep them. We don't know what's going to happen."

Mrs Self has only recently got back in the saddle after an accident involving her horse and a car left her in a wheelchair for three years.

She said: "Initially I was worried about riding again. But it's fine now.

"There are some lovely rides around here, such as the Ridgeway and Hodson, but we won't be able to get there if the developers move in."

Donna Wing, 39, of Blackstone Avenue, in Eldene, has been using the same stables since she was 13 and now keeps three horses there.

"I dread to think what will happen," she said.

"It will be awful to lose the land around here.

"Both my children, who are 11 and eight, come riding here. Re-homing three horses will be much harder than just the one."

Yamuna Reid, three, and her four-month-old brother Chaitanya enjoy their daily visits with mum Lisa to see their grandmother in Day House Lane.

But Lisa, 31, of Courtsknap Court, central Swindon, fears that the council plans will mean the end of their family strolls in the countryside.

She said: "The children love seeing the deer and rabbits around my mother's house, and we enjoy walking down the lane.

"These are simple things we won't be able to do once the area starts getting built up."

Dennis and Patricia Eatwell, who have lived in Day House Lane since 1976, just want answers and clarification from Swindon council.

Part-time farmer Mr Eatwell, 71, said: "We've been told that some fields will go but nothing seems very clear.

"I wouldn't want more houses right next door to me. It would be too built up.

"Thousands more people coming to the area could mean an increase in crime."