A parish council will take legal advice on the validity of plans to build 2,000 homes in their area.

Broadbridge Heath Parish Council is furious the area west of Horsham and at Broadbridge Heath will now have to take 2,000 properties despite a public consultation this year referring to just 1,250 homes.

Horsham District Council announced the last-minute rise in housing numbers, including a further 490 homes on brownfield sites, after realising its planning blueprint must run to 2018 and not 2016 as previously thought.

But residents of Broadbridge Heath fear the identity of their village will disappear if its population of 3,000 doubles in size.

A statement by the parish council said it was appalled how plans for a university and 1,000 houses to the west of Horsham had changed into plans for 2,000 houses and no university in just over a year.

It said: "Horsham District Council only seems to pay lip-service to our issues and concerns. They are never seriously addressed.

"We are exploring a number of avenues, including legal advice, to investigate the validity of the process followed by Horsham District Council."

The plans are expected to be approved at a public meeting on September 27.

The public has until September 16 to give feedback on the proposed changes.