URBAN sprawl will be unstoppable if Gordon Brown gets his way, according to the Tories.

The Prime Minister wants three million new homes to be built across the United Kingdom by 2020, mainly on so-called brownfield sites, which are areas which have previously been developed.

The idea is to address the shortage of new homes and the rise in house prices, which prevent many first-time buyers from being able to afford them.

A Government-appointed panel of planning experts has recommended that 32,000 new homes should be built in the south east each year until 2026.

This recommendation is an increase of 3,100 homes compared to the figures compiled by the South East England Regional Assembly in 2005.

The planning inspectors report says building on green belt land, especially on the outskirts of London should not be ruled out.

Beckenham MP and shadow planning minister Jacqui Lait says this will create unacceptable urban sprawl.

Mrs Lait said: "There is an absolute precedent that you do not develop the green belt and local people do not want to see it developed.

"The Government has to be clear but at the moment there are conflicting views on the green belt position.

"There is not a definite strategy for delivering the housing that Gordon Brown is saying we need."

A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government said: "This is an independent report, not a statement of Government policy.

"The report actually says green belt policy should remain central to the plan and it also makes clear there is no case for any strategic review of the Green Belt in the region.

"Government policy remains that there will be no change to the robust protections of the green belt, as the housing green paper made clear.

"We believe it is possible to build the homes future generations need whilst protecting the environment and green spaces.

"Our clear priority for development will remain brownfield land - already over 70 per cent of new housing is being built on brownfield land, up from 57 per cent in 1997."