Green belt is more likely to be wasteland than a slice of countryside

Almost a fifth of land with the designation is neglected, but there are examples of rehabilitation with industrial sites being transformed into nature reserves

Green belts are coming under intense pressure from government plans to build thousands of homes. It conjures up an image of a tide of concrete being poured over beautiful rolling fields of wild flowers, but the original idea of the green belts was to prevent urban sprawl, not for nature conservation or even beautiful landscapes.

Much of the green belt is not even green - 18% is classed as "neglected" with derelict buildings, rubbish, electricity pylons and other blots on the landscape. Only 45% is green and much of that is monoculture farmland too harsh for most wild plants to survive.