Campaigners have called for a planned Cockermouth housing development to be halted while its potential impact on flooding in the town is reassessed.

Story Homes has begun preparations to build 320 homes at Strawberry How.

The site of the planned Strawberry Grange estate is crossed by the Tom Rudd Beck, which is in a flood zone.

Following Storm Desmond in December, fears have grown that developing the site could exacerbate the flood risk elsewhere in the town.

Christopher Orr and Judy Whiteside called on Allerdale council, at its meeting on Wednesday, to use its legal powers to stop the development, at least until further work was done by the Environment Agency to reassess the town's flood risk.

Mr Orr said the Environment Agency and the government had accepted that current flood modelling was flawed.

He added: "Events over the last 10 years have been a real wake-up call for Cockermouth.

"Given the last seven years of serious flooding events and the potential for even more in the future, would councillors agree that the planning permission should be revoked or at least put on hold until the Environment Agency review?"

Mark Fryer, deputy council leader and executive member responsible for planning, confirmed that the council had some power to revoke or hold planning permission, subject to approval from the Secretary of State, but this was not a simple process.

He added that the development could not go ahead until a host of conditions attached to the planning permission had been met.

He said: "At this time, although different people have come out and said different things, there's no official comment by the Environment Agency or Defra about the modelling that was used to inform the decision and whether it was actually flawed or out of date."

Coun Fryer added that bespoke modelling was used to consider the Strawberry How development and a review of the recent flooding suggested the level did not exceed that considered.

He said: "I understand the developer may have carried out some further work to that.

"They have said there's no plan to develop higher risk areas.

"I don't think we'd approve the details for the conditions until following consultation with all the relevant statutory bodies including the Environment Agency were satisfied that the information was acceptable."

Workington MP Sue Hayman previously mentioned the development in Parliament during a flooding debate.

She said: "We have to stop building on floodplains and consider the potential impact of all proposed developments on other properties."

A Story Homes spokesman then said: "While we understand the concerns raised by the community of Cockermouth, we would like to reassure them that in developing our design for Strawberry Grange we have been very careful to avoid exacerbating the known flood risks in the town.

"No new home is at risk from flood waters on this site, and none of the existing homes downstream of this site will be affected by our development.

"Subsequent to this, detailed flood defence consents have been applied for and approved by the Environment Agency."

Jim Hully, chairman of Sustainable Cockermouth, a group formed to oppose the development, said campaigners would be satisfied as long as the applications to discharge the conditions went to the development panel rather than being dealt with by officers.

He said: "That would give us the opportunity to look at the advice that's been given and respond to it at the meeting.

"It' makes it transparent.

"Some 840 people objected to the development. They're entitled to know what advice the council is being given."

Mr Hully said the campaigners would ask ward councillors Alan and Christine Smith and Len Davies to call in the applications if they were not automatically sent to the panel.