A TEXTILE firm has broken its silence to try to counter "misleading" claims about its plans for housing.

Plans by Z Hinchliffe and Sons to develop land near its Denby Dale premises have met fierce opposition from villagers.

The plans will be the subject of a public meeting next Wednesday at The Dales Club, Norman Road, Denby Dale.

But a company spokesman said objectors seemed to be confusing the application with a previous, larger scheme put forward by the firm.

He added that the housing plans were vital to provide Hinchliffe's with cash to invest in its business.

The company has submitted two plans.

One is for 10 terraced houses on land off Bank Lane and the other is a scheme for seven homes on land off Norman Road.

The firm said both planning applications were on previously developed land.

Hinchliffe's had previously won permission to develop the sites for housing, but the application had lapsed.

The spokesman said the new applications were smaller than the original one.

A greenfield site previously included had been deleted from the new proposals.

That land - near the viaduct - would remain open, the spokesman said.

He said most of the houses now being proposed were "of a type and scale appropriate to the village and suitable for local people".

Only two houses would be four-bedroomed, detached properties. The rest would be three and two-bedroomed terraced houses.

The Norman Road scheme would use existing access off Norman Road and also provide off-road public parking.

The spokesman said the proposed buildings would be well away from the River Dearne, so safeguarding wildlife.

Hinchliffe's employs about 400 people, including 300 at its Hartcliffe Mills site in Denby Dale.

The spokesman said the housing schemes would raise money for the company to invest in new machinery and buildings.

It also wanted to build a new access road off Barnsley Road, which would remove heavy traffic from the access to the mills from Wakefield Road.

The spokesman added: "The company needs funds to achieve this investment.

"Without it the business will have to look to a cheaper alternative manufacturing base," he said.

Objectors have voiced worries about road safety on Bank Lane and Norman Road, the environmental impact of the schemes and fears about flooding from the river.