Et in Arcadia... homes under threat

Villagers from a rural community once described as Arcadia arrived at the House of Lords yesterday after walking from Wales to London in a last- ditch attempt to save their homes. Three people from Holt's Field, near Swansea, marched more than 300 miles to lobby Parliament where five senior law lords were sitting to hear why their homes should be saved from the bulldozer.

Members of the community have fought for eight years to save their unusual properties - 27 wooden chalets on 14 acres of land in a conservation area. The site is one of the few developments of its type surviving from between the wars, dating from 1932.