Epping Forest District has the third highest proportion of green belt land of all local authority areas in England.

Government figures released today show 93.5 per cent of the area has green belt status protecting it from development.

A total of 31,680 of the district’s 33,898.41 hectares are currently protected.

The green belt currently covers 13 per cent of land in England.

West Lancashire has the highest proportion of greenbelt land, followed by Tandridge in Surrey.

Under the Local plan 10,000 new homes must be built in Epping over the next 20 years.