Not in my back bard - Dame Judi angry at eco-town plan in her 'beloved Stratford'

As Elizabeth I, Judi Dench perfectly played the kind of Queen who would pour 'foul scorn' on any threat to England.

As M in the 007 movies she tamed the wayward James Bond and as Lady Catherine de Bourg in Pride And Prejudice she could almost turn men to stone with her contemptuous glare.

So when the Government revealed plans for an 'eco-town' next to Dame Judi's beloved spiritual home, Shakespeare's birthplace of Stratford-on-Avon, it unwittingly picked a fight with a formidable opponent.

Dame Judi, 73, who has made many acclaimed Stratford performances, is incensed by the plans.

"Stratford is a jewel in the crown of the nation's heritage," she stormed.

"There can be very few places in the world of such cultural significance as the town in which the world's greatest dramatist lived and worked. It is folly to put this at risk."

Long Marston was last week announced on a shortlist of sites for Gordon Brown's carbon-neutral developments.

It is just six miles from Stratford-on-Avon, home to the Royal Shakespeare Company, where Dame Judi began her career in 1961.

She is supporting local residents who believe that the new town's 20,000 residents will cause traffic chaos in historic Stratford and ruin its quaint charm.

"Having appeared in more than a dozen productions in the town over a period of 40 years, I am very concerned about the potential impact the new eco-town will have on the town and its famous theatre," she said.

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The actress, who last appeared for the RSC in Stratford in 2003 as the Countess of Rosillion in All's Well That Ends Well, said: "The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is the focus of the country's theatrical life.

"It is a magnet for actors and audiences the world over. It has a magic that no other theatre in the world can match. Its appeal has not dimmed over the years, nor will it ever.

"Like everyone connected with the town and the theatre, I would be devastated to think this might be jeopardised.'

Dame Judi is supporting the BARD, or Better Accessible and Responsible Development, campaign to try to stop the eco town with its 6,000 new homes.

She added: "I should stress that I am not against eco-towns per se – far from it. It is the location of the proposed site – so close to historic Stratford – that gives me cause for concern.

"The BARD campaign's message is very clear: yes to eco towns, but not in a location that will devastate a town of such historical and cultural importance."

Stratford attracts 3.5 million visitors a year, many from overseas.

The energy for the proposed eco-homes in the new towns is supposed to come from renewable sources, and if possible they will be built from natural, recycled or reclaimed materials on 'brownfield' sites.