Residents opposing plans to build 120 homes on a field in Abbots Langley feel "misled" by Lib Dem councillors after the council decided to remove the site's Green Belt status.

Plans for the housing development in land off Woodside Road were produced by Taylor Wimpey in September last year and raised concerns among people living nearby.

A proposal for a new school to be built on the land next to the proposed site was also included in the housing plans.

As a result, Paul Johnson, who lives in Orchard Avenue, formed the Woodside Action Group, to oppose the development. Their petition been signed by 350 supporters.

But Mr Johnson was recently shocked to find that his local councillors, who had previously supported the residents' motion, had been present at a Three Rivers District Council meeting where a unanimous decision was made to remove Green Belt status from the site to allow the development to go ahead.

Mr Johnson said Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst had publically said he wanted to save Green Belt from development and stated he would be opposed to any development on the land in question.

He also said that at a meeting with residents on November 12, 2014, Councillor Sara Bedford confirmed the Green Belt status had already been removed and there was nothing residents could do.

However, he said Three Rivers District Council did not hold a meeting until the end of November, when the decision was made, and both councillors were in attendance.

Mr Johnson said: "I think residents have been misled by Lib Dem councillors. I actually feel that giving the school to the council is too much of an incentive for planning permission to be passed through.

"Lib Dem councillors said they were totally opposed to releasing Green Belt, and it's a bit of a shock to see they have unanimously passed this.

"Other residents are not happy with this at all, plus we haven't heard anything from Taylor Wimpey."

Abbots Langley councillor Sara Bedford said Three Rivers did agree to take the sites out of the Green Belt at a hearing with the Inspector in July 2014, and the meeting held in November was to approve the Inspector's report and sign it off legally.

But Councillor Bedford said this did not suggest councillors were supporting the development.

"Local councillors have fought against the use of this site for housing for over a decade. Unfortunately the Conservative-run county council suggested the site could be used for housing and a school, and the Government planning inspector agreed," she said.

"He also instructed Three Rivers to take the site out of the Green Belt.

"If the council had not approved the Inspector's changes they would have been left without a local plan, and any piece of land fitting the National Planning Policy Framework (including Woodside Road) would have been fair game for developers and impossible to resist."

Councillor Bedford added that even if the council had refused any application, it would have gone through on appeal.

"Councillors are furious that the inspector considered this site as suitable for development. However there is no effective way to block this, as starting the Local Plan process again would not only mean that no field in Three Rivers would be protected from development, but also that the Government would impose an even larger number of new homes in the district," she said.

Hannah Pattinson, Strategic Land Project Manager for Taylor Wimpey, said: "technical work was undertaken on site earlier this year and we are now in the process of assessing the findings of this work and how it will affect our final layout for the scheme.

"We are anticipating submitting a planning application to Three Rivers District Council later this year."