Beauty spots and wildlife sanctuaries across Britain will be under threat if plans go ahead to build thousands of homes on a protected nightingale breeding ground, conservationists have warned.

In 2014, Medway Council in Kent approved a planning application to build 5,000 houses on Lodge Hill, a former military site on the Hoo Peninsula which is home to one of the UK’s largest nightingale colonies and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

But following a huge public outcry from conservation charities and members of the public, the decision was ‘called in’ and the application withdrawn last September.

However in its new draft Local Plan, the council has designated the land as suitable for development, and said Homes England, the government’s regeneration agency, will soon submit a new scheme for 2,000 properties.

If the project is given the green light, it could be the first development to flout National Planning Policy Framework guidance which forbids building on SSSIs unless the ‘the benefits clearly outweigh the impacts.’

Charities including the RSPB, The Woodland Trust, Buglife and Butterfly Conservation have warned that the scheme could set a ‘dangerous precedent’ for Britain’s 4,000 SSSis.