A farmer from Telford has told a public inquiry a field claimed by residents to be a village green has in fact been used for growing crops for many years.

Gerald Cooke, of Bratton Hall Farm, Bratton, said he had rarely seen the public “trespassing” on the land, apart from the occasional dog-walker. He was giving evidence to a hearing at Leegomery Community Centre.

It is being held to decide the future of a six-acre patch of land at Apley Castle.

Development agency English Partnerships, which owns the land, has outline planning permission to build 200 homes there.

But residents from Apley Preservation Association are trying to get the field declared a village green – protecting it as a haven for people and wildlife.

They have called a series of witnesses to back their claim it has been used for football, cricket, mountain biking, picnics, flying kites and dog-walking for at least 20 years.

English Partnership’s barrister Patrick Edwards says the claim is “sadly misconceived”, accusing objectors, most of whom live in relatively new houses, of using the village green proposal as a way to stop further development near their homes.

He has produced evidence including aerial photographs to back his assertion that the field has really been used for agriculture, with signs erected to make it clear it is private land.

Mr Cooke told the inquiry yesterday he had farmed in the area for 40 years, following on from his father.

He said the field had been let to him and farmed in rotation of cereals and sugar beet, apart from periods of set-aside, until he gave it up in 2002.

“I have predominantly grown spring cereals like barley, sown in March and harvested in August, with the field ploughed each year,” he said.

“I would regularly use tractors as part of this process of active husbandry, including spraying crops and the land with pesticides and fertiliser.

“I was not aware of any trespassing by the public”.

The hearing continues.