The green belt shrank by the biggest amount on record last year as councils sacrificed land to meet housing targets.
More than 12,500 acres were cut from England’s green belt by redrawing boundaries in the year to March 31, six times as much as in the previous year.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) said that the figures, published by the ministry of housing, contradicted the government’s claim that it was protecting the green belt.
