THE battle to save Swindon's Front Garden from development has been lost.

The High Court today threw out a bid to block the building of 3,800 homes between the town and the M4 motorway.

It ends years of campaigning by members of the Front Garden Action Group, which became known as FRAG.

Its leader Terry King now faces a personal legal bill running to £11,000. The costs against Mr King were originally capped by the judge at £10,000, but a further £1,000 was awarded to the Secretary of State John Prescott for his time involved in defending the human rights implications of the case.

Mr King said: "I am very disappointed by the ruling because the views of the people of Swindon have been ignored.

"I cannot find the £11,000 to pay this bill myself. I must now appeal to our supporters to dig into their pockets to help pay for the legal fees."

Mr King refused to admit defeat in his battle, despite the refusal of the judge to a request for an appeal.

He said he would now take time to read the 91-page judgement by Mr Justice Ousely. He said: "I have been told there is a paragraph in the judgement that may help us, but I need to digest what has been said."

FRAG led a long battle against the development of the land. It asked to High Court to overturn the Wiltshire Structure Plan, which had included the Front Garden development.

Thousands of people marched onto the land and a picnic was held by families opposed to development.

They claimed the land was liable to flood and that the rural buffer between Swindon countryside would be destroyed. They also said valuable wildlife would be destroyed.

FRAG was supported by Bloor Homes, which owns land to the north of the town and would have benefited from a ruling against development on the Front Garden.

Swindon Council argued that the land was ripe for development and said it wanted to create an 'eco-estate' of low density.

The future development of the town as a whole also rested on today's judgement. Swindon Council owns much of the land and stands to earn up to £200m from its sale.

Much of that money will be used to fund the £350m 30-Year Vision, which aims to transform the town centre and North Star and create a new transport network.

Coun Doreen Dart (Con, Blunsdon) said: "The decision now enables us to go ahead nd prepare more detailed proposals for the southern development area." Today's ruling leaves the way forward for the creation of a new £37m stadium for Swindon Town.

It wants to build the stadium at Blagrove, to the side of the Front Garden site near junction 16 of the M4. Much of it would be paid for by ancillary development, including housing, leisure and sporting facilities.

Swindon Town chief executive Pete Rowe said: "I am delighted from a football club point of view and for the people of Swindon.

"There is now an opportunity to move forward on the Front Garden project. Hopefully the football club can resolve its matters in the next couple of weeks and get back into some dialogue with the local authority."