Michael Howard has warned that Labour plans to replace Britain's green field sites with "urban growth areas".

On a visit to Kent on Friday, the Conservative leader accused the government of wanting to build massive housing developments over "the garden of England".

He was speaking as the party launched a campaign to highlight Labour moves to strip local communities of their say on planning.

The Tories said Kent's green fields had been designated am "urban growth areas" by deputy prime minister John Prescott.

"If John Prescott has his way, this beautiful countryside at the heart of the Garden of England will become almost as ugly as those words of the deputy prime minister," said Howard.

"Labour – with the explicit support of the Liberal Democrats – plans to build more than 100,000 new buildings in Kent in the next 25 years."

Howard added that the government was failing to honour its pledges to protect the British countryside.

"When he was elected, Tony Blair said he loved our countryside and pledged to protect it," the Conservative leader said.

"If this is his version of love, imagine what we would be up against if he hated it.

"Britain is a beautiful country. On a still summer’s day, there is nowhere on earth to match it.

"We need to find the balance between preserving what we have, what we inherited from the generations that have gone before us, and ensuring that we continue to see thriving, growing communities.

"The best way to do that is to give back to local councils the powers that Labour are secretly stealing."

He added that a Conservative government would let local councils "have a much greater say in how their local communities should evolve".

"The green belt is our common inheritance.  Labour has let the countryside down.  And we, as Conservatives, mean to defend it," vowed Howard.