CAMPAIGNERS face an anxious wait to see if their bid to protect Bushfield Camp will be heard.

They want to register the downland overlooking Winchester as a village green to ward off developers.

On Monday the Church Commissioners, which own the site, tried to have it struck out.

Both sides faced each other in the county council chamber in Winchester for the one-day hearing.

The commissioners, represented by Jonathan Karas QC, argued that the bid was flawed.

It was made in 2008, just in time to meet a five-year deadline after the commissioners fenced off part of the site in 2003.

To qualify as a village green, access must be unrestricted for 20 years.

Bushfield Down Supporters Group argues that it was for at least two decades before the fences appeared.

Mr Karas said the application had details missing and the scale of the maps supplied was too small.

He said: “We say the application has been received, but has not been duly made.

“We would say the word ‘duly’ means ‘properly made’ for the purposes of this act.”

Campaigners argue that their bid is sound, and inspectors are now reviewing the case.

Barbara Guthrie, of Bushfield Down Supporters Group, said the group was expecting a decision ‘sooner rather than later’.

The legal ruling is expected in around a month’s time. If the campaigners win, a further hearing will be held later this year to decide if village green status can be granted.

Bushfield Camp, which was a former army base until the 1970s, has previously been targeted by developers.

It has been linked with supermarkets, housing, and more recently a ‘Knowledge Park’ for hi-tech firms.

It is listed as an ‘opportunity site’ in Winchester’s draft 20-year district masterplan.

If village green status is secured, the land, which is popular with ramblers and dog walkers, would be much harder to develop.