A parish council meeting had to be abandoned after 50 angry villagers turned up waving copies of a monthly newsletter detailing new developments they knew nothing about.

The public outcry was prompted by the Armthorpe Newsletter after it exclusively revealed local councillors had been holding apparently private meetings with a property developer.

The discussions centred on well-developed plans for three projects, one of which would be close to village housing and see some buildings rise up to 60ft high.

Reporter Emma Roots said the plans had not been revealed to local residents or submitted for planning permission but had apparently gained the support of certain parish and ward councillors.

She said: "After The Armthorpe Newsletter published details of the scheme in its June edition under the headline 'Armo-geddon?', the impromptu protest took parish councillors by surprise when they met for what they expected to be the usual quiet discussion covering dog dirt and bus shelters.

"Eventually, the meeting had to be abandoned as angry villagers began to shout down councillors."

Residents even started delivering piles of Newsletters to local houses to alert residents to the story.

The property developer behind the scheme did an interview with the Newsletter for the June story.

But when he was approached in the wake of the residents' protest, he told the Newsletter: "Anyone who takes me on will find they will lose. I will say nothing else."

The July edition's front page was simply headlined 'Armo-geddoff!'

The Armthorpe Newsletter is one of eight free monthly publications produced by a small team of just four in Doncaster.

It is part Johnston Press' South Yorkshire Newspapers division, with each Newsletter aimed at separate communities of around 10,000 people within Doncaster borough.

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