As people pore over plans laid out on boards and trestle tables, one woman's pen hovers over a questionnaire. "How do you spell 'chaos'?" she asks.

Miller Homes' housing proposals are attracting a mix of reactions at this drop-in, and this attendee appears to be a critic, chiefly of the present government. "It was a lovely, lovely town and Labour have done their best to destroy it," the resident says. "They've surrounded us with housing, out of all proportion.

"I don't know whether they really need all this," she says. "It should be more of a community space for people. They've made it so you can't move in Yarm now. We get gridlock and it's just going to get worse."

On the other hand Andy Hardcastle, 77, who lives in Ingleby Barwick , says he regularly travels into Yarm and is ple

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