Villagers are to find out what developers plan to build on land in a historic community.

The residents of Wivelsfield, which dates back to Celtic times, will have to wait until next week to discover what the building company proposes.

Rumours have been circulating that the village could be the proposed site for up to 400 new homes.

Wivelsfield, near Haywards Heath, has a parish church, a village shop and a number of other small businesses and a school with 120 pupils.

Wates builders is holding a three-hour public meeting in the village hall on Friday, February 17, to announce a proposal to develop land off Eastern Road.

Wivelsfield parish councillor Alan Janes, of Eastern Road, said: "I feel more houses in the village are unnecessary, unwanted and unsuitable.

"We do need a certain amount of affordable housing but unfortunately we can't have five affordable houses without having a number of five-bedroom homes with garages and the rest."

Coun Janes said he had no idea what Wates was proposing, although he was aware that two plots of land in the village had been "identified" as possibly suitable for development.

He said: "The sites were identified - as opposed to allocated - for development for about 190 homes but whether Wates would go for that I don't know.

They have called the meeting for what they call their opportunity to establish contact with the community. Let's see what they have to offer and they may talk about other amenities."

Barry Thomas, chair of the Wivelsfield Green Tenants and Residents Association, said: "Quite a large proportion of the village will attend the meeting.

"It's difficult to say what people will say right now until after the meeting. Those who have their own properties may disagree with any more building but the people in association housing will probably favour it more as it may bring in new services."

The village is currently trying to gain a plot of land on which to build a school.

Villagers are already considering whether Wates might offer some kind of deal to invest in a new school or plot of land for the school in return for building homes.

The meeting will be held from 6.30pm on Friday, February 17, in Wivelsfield Village Hall.