Britain's smallest town is locked in a David and Goliath battle with a council over plans for a bypass which would carve through its surrounding countryside.

People living in Fordwich, near Canterbury, which has just 180 homes, say the controversial road scheme would destroy the rural outlook and wildlife habitats.

The historic town owes its special status to King Henry II, who granted it a Merchant Gild Charter in 1184 - reflecting its importance as the city's de facto port.

But residents were aghast to see the proposed route of the new road appear in the city council’s draft Local Plan, which includes proposals to build 13,000 homes and turn Canterbury into five zones that motorists would be banned from driving directly between.

Now the town council in Fordwich is fighting back at the planned ring-road which is an integral part of the controversial traffic scheme.

And while the community may be small in size, with a population of less than 400, among them happens to be a King’s Counsel who specialises in planning law.

Greg Jones is volunteering his expertise to help the town council challenge the proposals.

Town mayor Adrian McCarthy says the residents of Fordwich owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Mr Jones for his support.

He believes the city council’s transport strategy is “utterly misconceived and flawed with no sound justification”, adding there has been “no consultation with Fordwich residents”.

“The draft Local Plan does not positively plan for Fordwich at all,” he added.

“The proposed bypass’s currently preferred route has not been adequately assessed and would destroy a conservation area, ancient woodland and important Kentish landscape features. It will also destroy sites of likely high archaeological importance.

"Instead we would urge the city council to address the harm done to the historic town by the rat-run unsuitable for the thousands of cars using our roads daily, regularly damaging the Grade II-listed bridge and listed houses.

“This can be achieved without the proposed bypass, which is not intended to relieve Fordwich in any event.”

Mr Jones has penned a 185-page representation in which he challenges many of the arguments put forward by the council in favour of its housing target - which requires the new traffic solutions to mitigate its impact.

He concludes council bosses are “mistaken” in their conviction that the property numbers must be met, saying the approach fails to consider adverse impacts, including traffic, and cannot be justified.

“The transport strategy cannot be excused as a necessary ‘bold’ step when less extreme measures, more consistent with the council’s avowed objectives, have not even been considered because of the mistaken conviction that ‘objectively assessed housing need’ is a target that must be met in all circumstances,” he argues.

“The same criticism can be made of the lack of assessment of the adverse impact of the currently preferred eastern bypass route on ecology, including legally protected species and their habitats.

“This lack of detail means it is extremely difficult to draw the full final conclusions on the adverse effect of the eastern bypass on the Fordwich landscape, other than all detrimental.

“Moreover, the simple fact that the currently preferred eastern bypass route is so much longer means its effects on the overall landscape and visual resource are likely to be greater than the other routes.”

City council leader Ben Fitter-Harding is driving the ‘zoned’ city and eastern bypass plans - which he believes will “improve journey times and the economy”.

He admits the new route would cause some damage to the environment but argues it is a “balancing act” between that and the economic benefits the road system would bring.

“No one could argue there will be no effect, but we will be mitigating that as much as possible and are consulting with Natural England,” he added.

"We have already spoken to the planning inspector, who says our draft Local Plan is going in the right direction..."

But the proposals have come under fire from residents across the district, as well as Cllr Fitter-Harding’s own Tory members.

Among them was former Lord Mayor Colin Spooner, who was recently suspended from the Conservative group after accusing the authority leader of “losing the plot”.

The city zoning plan has even attracted criticism from former Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, who recently branded it “crazy” on Twitter.

Other vocal critics include have included former MEP and GB News host Nigel Farage, Spectator columnist Rod Liddle and climate change denier Piers Corbyn.

But Cllr Fitter-Harding says the scheme remains a long-term ambition. He insists the authority is on the side of the motorist, which is why he is proposing a new bypass.

Addressing the concerns of Fordwich and particularly the draft Local Plan’s focus on the need for housing, he says he has been lobbying the government for a reduction in numbers but insists there is currently “no wriggle room”.

“There has been no change in the government methodology in the calculations and we have already spoken to the planning inspector, who says our draft Local Plan is going in the right direction,” he said.

“None of the land which is in the plan for development is protected and we cannot use the argument that it will create more traffic because we will simply be told to facilitate the infrastructure for it.

“But I can say we will be insisting that 50% of all new housing land be kept as open green space and we will move to legally protect it for the future.”