Ann Keen has slammed the 'crackpot way' council leaders have handled the regeneration of Gunnersbury Park after nearly 1,000 people backed her petition to save it for recreational use.

The Brentford & Isleworth MP launched the petition in August following reports the site's joint owners Hounslow and Ealing councils were planning to sell off land for luxury housing.

She said she had received hundreds of replies by post and email from worried residents, with Hounslow's deputy Labour leader Ruth Cadbury collecting a further 200 signatures at this summer's Brentford Festival.

Both councils have firmly denied the plans, which were contained in a leaked report considered at a private meeting earlier this summer.

But Mrs Keen, who lives in Brentford, claimed she was still waiting for an 'unequivocal answer' about whether any homes would be built on the land.

“This is a superb response from residents and users of the park, and it shows the depth of feeling about the crackpot way this issue has been handled," she said. “I am glad to hear that the councils have buckled under the pressure of so much opposition to this and made the committee meetings public.

“But I would still like an unequivocal answer to our main concern – whether or not Hounslow and Ealing councils will build homes on Gunnersbury Park.

“The park is a green gateway to west London and it is absolutely absurd to think that the Tories think the people who live here want luxury homes to be built on it.”