GREEN Belt land in Redbridge will be bulldozed to meet the Mayor of London's demand for 10,500 new homes in the borough - but the man in charge will not say where.

Redbridge Council is still in negotiation with the mayor's office as it attempts to bargain down the figure, contained in the London Plan, which has to be met in the next ten years.

The council's cabinet member for planning, Keith Prince, has to tell Mayor Ken Livingstone where his houses can go and insists they cannot be accommodated on existing developed land.

He told a council meeting: "We believe we have the capacity for 8,000 new homes and I very much regret that the result is we will be forced to develop some Green Belt land."

Speaking after the meeting, he said he could not reveal what Green Belt land in the borough would be affected.

He added: "We believe that 8,000 is the maximum we can deliver. What we would have to do, if the mayor or inspector does go for more than the 8,000 we're proposing, is a study to look at the Green Belt.

"The main criteria would be where the infrastructure exists to support it. For instance, there would be no point in building an estate in the middle of Fairlop Waters because there's no infrastructure."

Although the council was on it's way to meeting the Mayor's target for 10,860 new homes between 1997 and 2016, three years ago he upped the rate to 10,550 between 2007 and 2017.

With London's population expected to grow by another 800,000 people before 2016, the London Plan lists among its key objectives the need to "accommodate London's growth within its boundaries without encroaching on open spaces" and to "make London a more attractive, well-designed and green city".

Cllr Prince said: "It's very very difficult to resist. The new powers the mayor is receiving next year are terrifying. He's got his own agenda. There's nothing to suggest he wouldn't increase the target in the future."