NEW housing developments in south Worcestershire should be built well away from motorways to try and stop commuters from Birmingham and Bristol snapping them up.

That was the message Worcester city councillors were given this week by independent housing expert Rupert Scott, who had been commissioned by the area's district and city councils to undertake a major study of the affordable housing situation across Worcester, Wychavon and the Malvern Hills.

Mr Scott's findings made for fairly grim listening, as he highlighted the dire need for more cheap housing across the region and the many difficulties councils will face in this area over the next few years.

And his analysis of the available data concluded that the major pressure on housing in Worcester comes not just from an aging population - which is an issue throughout Great Britain - but also from wealthier people moving into the area from nearby cities.

Mr Scott told councillors: "It matters enormously what sort of houses you build, and where you build them. There's a serious risk of building a lot of new houses that simply suck in more in-migrants' (people from other parts of the region) and don't meet the needs of the people you build them for.

"If 100 extra houses are bought by people who are in-migrants', that's 100 less for the people here who need them.

"There was a development of new houses built in Droitwich recently that were instantly marketed by estate agents as handy for commuting to Bristol'. That's what will happen in Worcester if new houses are accessible to motorways junctions.

"It would be better in my view if these developments were not so convenient for a motorway.

"I'm starting to sound like a drawbridge merchant, but we've got to look at meeting local rather than in-migrant' needs."

Conservative councillor Roger Knight, the cabinet member in charge of finance, suggested Mr Scott's findings may prompt a wholesale review of the way development is encouraged in Worcester.

"Should we be redesigning our local plan?" he said.

"Should we be actively concentrating on developing housing in the west, away from the M5, and moving commerce and industry to the east of the city? Should we be actively doing this now?"

But Mr Scott said many other factors would have to be taken into account, as well as housing.

"From a purely housing aspect I can see a lot of merit in that argument," he said. "But what other implications that would have I am not in a position to say."