By Malcolm Prior BBC News Online, Berkshire

Could the plain....become a beach?

But that could become a reality thanks to a Danish architect's dream of building an artificial seaside town at the heart of the landlocked county.

The vision of 700m of prime beach property lying just a stone's throw from the M4 motorway is included in plans for a major housing estate on the town's edge.

The Kennet Valley Park scheme could see 7,500 homes built on a flood plain near Calcot.

Commuters could soon be taking a quick dip when they get home

At the centre of the new town, and close to its proposed railway station, will lie a beach, with its own cafe, volleyball courts and artificial lake.

Louis Becker, partner at Copenhagen-based firm Henning Larsens Tegnestue, believes it could lead to a whole new way of living in England's commuter belt.

He told BBC News Online: "We had this idea of when you come back from work in the evening, you can come back to your home and take off your suit and go for a swim.

"It's a simple idea, a naive one perhaps."

With near-identical estates cropping up every year along the M4 corridor, the Danish designers - who have also been shortlisted to design New York's 2012 Olympic village bid - are keen to put their own stamp on the Prudential-backed development.

What could be the thing that people can feel proud of? In this project, it is the water Architect Louis Becker

Currently a water-logged area, the site itself and the thought of what Reading's residents were missing out on suggested the idea of a beach.

Mr Becker explained: "If you look back at old cities, a lot of people are proud of living in Cambridge or Oxford as they have a kind of history and a strong identity.

"Its important when you do these new developments that you think in this way.

"What could be the thing that people can feel proud of? In this project, it is the water.

"When you look at the site you have all this water and we felt the water should be the driving theme of the concept."

There will be about 700m of beach

Ironically, it is that water resource that could prove to be the biggest obstacle for the scheme, the first phase of which has been earmarked to begin in 2011.

The Environment Agency is already set to oppose the plan that has yet to be approved by the local council.

It fears that the development, which will see the homes built on raised ground, could cause flooding elsewhere.

But its backers are adamant that the scheme will be made possible by the use of new river defences and nearby Theale Lake as a reservoir.

They are now to send out leaflets to more than 18,000 homes in the area, hoping to win mass support for the development.

And one factor will certainly work in their favour.

The beach will be open to the public and, together with the station, will be among the first elements of the plans to be made a reality.

Mr Becker said: "During construction, people will be able to go and swim. So you will have a feeling of the place before it is built.