Cliveden stately home in Taplow, which is owned by the National Trust

Villagers living near Cliveden in Taplow, have forced a vote on the proposal at a trust meeting due to take place in Portsmouth, Hampshire, on Saturday.

Opponents are furious at the trust's plans to build the homes on the Cliveden Estate on Berkshire's border with Buckinghamshire.

They claim the trust has betrayed its duty to preserve the countryside and believe it must be stopped.

The trust says it needs the money from the homes to keep the estate open.

Groups such as the Chiltern Society and the Council to Protect Rural England strongly oppose the plans for the urban-style housing estate.

Hospital abandoned

Campaigners are also backed by Taplow parish councillors who say the village would not be able to cope with the extra traffic the homes would generate.

The stately home and extensive grounds at Cliveden were given to the National Trust in 1942 by Lord Astor, who had allowed the Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital to be built on 15 acres - a small corner of the estate.

Twenty years ago, the NHS abandoned the hospital and the trust was left with derelict buildings from which it could no longer derive any rental income.

The trust then granted a developer a long lease to build homes on the site.

In 1990 the trust agreed a 100-year lease of the house, which is one of the country's most luxurious hotels.

Before World War I the building hosted glittering parties for royalty and the titled.

The house is also famous for the Profumo scandal in the 1960s.