Pressure on planners to block estates behind gates

A number of councils have refused permission for the walls, fences and locked gates which protect residents from outsiders.

The squeeze is encouraged in planning guidelines slipped out by ministers which tell town halls they should "seek to reduce social inequalities" and gated developments should only be allowed as "a last resort".

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The recommendation has provoked protests from families prevented from sealing off their properties.

Ministers also face accusations from the Tories that, having failed to cut crime, Labour is "meddling" in the lives of those seeking to protect themselves.

Gated estates based on the private and secure developments common in the U.S. have proliferated in Britain over the last decade. There are currently around 1,000.

Critics say they promote division between the haves and have-nots.

Other commentators point out, however, that at a time of concern about "white flight" from cities, gated developments allow the better-off to stay in areas which would otherwise be deserted by the middle classes.

Plans for gated communities have been blocked in a number of areas, including two districts of Hampshire and Plymouth.

Residents in one development at Gosport, Hampshire, where flats designed to lie behind secure fences sold for over £1million were told the gates could not be locked.

Gosport's planners based their ban on 2005 rules from the Department of Communities and Local Government which say development must "create socially inclusive communities" and "reduce social inequalities".

There have been few public pronouncements from ministers on Labour's attitude to gated communities although Baroness Kay Andrews, Under Secretary of State in Hazel Blears' Communities Department, said two years ago: "We want to avoid the creation of large artificial gated communities."

The ban on gating at Gosport's Rope Quay development has infuriated residents, who cannot now install the promised security measures.

One, Talksport radio presenter Mike Parry, said: "If our development is opened to everyone, outsiders will come and park in it when they want to use the harbour ferry or go shopping.

"It's not as if the roads are public - this is private land."

Tories accused ministers of interfering with the privacy of those who try to shield themselves from crime.

Local government spokesman Eric Pickles said: "They should spend less time dictating what people do and more time tackling the problems of social breakdown rife in society."

A spokesman for the Communities Department said planning guidance rules meant buildings must be integrated with their neighbourhood. He added: "We can't comment on specific cases but it is wrong to suggest we're banning gated developments."