Thousands protest over Roots Allotment's plans for 600 plots on edge of Bristol

• Richard Payne reports on controversial plans for the allotments

More than 3,000 people have opposed a controversial new allotment site on the edge of Bristol which could be one of the biggest in the country when complete.

Police have ordered work to stop on part of the 10-acre plot at Abbots Leigh in North Somerset to protect nesting birds but it will still partially open to the public this Saturday (1 June).TV wildlife expert Chris Packham has joined local people in criticising the location and safety of the site but the company responsible insists it's one solution to better food production.

Resident Gino Rosolek said: "We're one of the properties looking directly at the devastation taking place in the meadow, so every day it goes on it' more and more upsetting."

The arguments date back more than a year and have, at times, needed police intervention to assess claims of physical assault.Locals' distrust of operators Roots Allotments stems from what they claim is a lack of consultation and clandestine movements of early morning vehicles dumping hundreds of tons of compost on the site.But Roots co-founder Ed Morrison disputes a lack of contact and says the site is answering a desperate need from people who want to grow their own.

"The message we're getting from people in Bristol is they need a growing space and unfortunately, the council and government aren't doing enough to provide that right now," he added.Roots don't need planning permission to operate the land, leased to them by descendants of the Wills tobacco family. A Certificate of Lawful Development allows allotments as an agricultural use but prevents the laying of a hard surface for parking.Sophy Gretton lives yards from the entrance Roots has created close to the A369.She explained: "We want them (Roots) to at least understand what they're coming to, the precious nature of this landscape and the hazards on the main road.

"If they'd applied for planning permission they would have to have done a proper traffic impact assessment and an ecological impact assessment before they started."

While North Somerset Council says it will act on any alleged planning breaches, Mr Morrison claims the bigger issue is giving people the chance to produce their own food and improve sustainability."A lot of people said this was a fantastic idea, exactly what society needs but this is the wrong place," he claimed. "My question is where is the right place when green spaces are getting swallowed up in cities and we have a lot of agricultural land surrounding where we are."