A Shropshire town may be on the verge of going where the Prime Minister fears to tread – by having a referendum.

The topic, however, is not the EU constitution but whether there should be a moratorium on new building work in the area. A group of people in the town of Much Wenlock are using a piece of little-known legislation to put the matter of housing development to a public vote.

The group is hoping it will lead the planning authority, Bridgnorth District Council, to apply a blanket ban locally on permissions until problems regarding flooding and traffic congestion are resolved.

Seven town residents have signed a motion to hold a parish referendum under the 1972 Local Government Act.A spokesman for the group, Roger Weston of Sheinton Street, said: “The problems of the drainage and excessive amounts of traffic in the town is now desperate. The referendum will be a wake-up call for the district council.

“We know the district council will not be legally obliged to take any particular action but it will let them know what the residents think.”

Much Wenlock was hit by severe flooding in June and, said Mr Weston, it became obvious that there was “strong feeling” in the town about inadequate storm drainage which had been made worse by more and more housing development.

He said their investigations had uncovered many examples of drainage systems being badly designed and incapable of handling storm water surges.

“The planners have allowed more and more development which means the run-off of water has been made worse and the drains can’t cope.

“We believe foul water has been allowed to overflow into storm water drains.”

The petition for a referendum says the town is plagued by excessive amounts of traffic using an inadequate road infrastructure.

A public meeting was held in September when calls were made for a stop to further development until the problems were tackled.

The petition for the referendum will be presented at a public meeting at the town’s Priory Hall on November 27 when every residentof Much Wenlock will have the opportunity to make their feelings clear to the district council.