CAMPAIGNERS have vowed to fight on after losing their legal battle to protect a popular recreation area from development.

After a lengthy case, The High Court has revoked the town green status given to Markham and Little Francis in Weymouth.

The ruling means landowner Betterment Properties can now submit planning applications for the site which is also known as Curtis Fields.

Campaigners fear the area could be concreted over with hundreds of new homes.

Members of the Society for the Protection of Markham and Little Francis have struggled for years to protect the 46-acre area from development, leading to the costly legal battle that began in Weymouth earlier this year.

Delivering his adjudication on the case at the High Court in London, Mr Justice Paul Morgan of the Chancery Division said he understood the disappointment residents would feel over his decision.

But he ruled that the land should never have been registered as a town green in the first place nine years ago.

He said the case involved a ‘balancing exercise’, adding: “If rectification is ordered the result will be that the landowner will be free from burdens which should not have been placed upon them and the inhabitants of Wyke Regis will be denied, in the future, rights which they have enjoyed in the past, but which they should never have had.

“I understand that many residents of the local area place a very high value on their ability to use the land for walking and recreation.

“Many of the residents of the local area regard the registration as a worthwhile curb on development of the land and of the adjoining land to the west.

“I fully understand that those persons will be very disappointed in those respects if the land ceases to be registered as a village green.”

Protection society chairman Gill Taylor said she is angered by the judge’s decision but will seek to challenge his finding.

She said: “I’m angry and somewhat perplexed by the decision.

“The judge has totally ignored all the information that was given during the nine day court hearing in Weymouth and doesn’t appear to have taken any of what was said into consideration.

“What he seems to have done is looked back at the original hearing with Dorset County Council when the land was given town green status and said that, if he had been sitting in judgement, he would have been against registering it as a town green.”

Mrs Taylor said the society is now looking to challenge the decision at the Court of Appeal, adding: “The brick wall we’ve hit now is funding.

“We still owe money from this last court hearing and we will need more for the appeal.

“I would suggest the ballpark figure we need would be another £50,000 easily.”

Betterment Properties declined to comment on the outcome of the case.