VILLAGERS are fighting a charity's proposal to change the terms of a legacy meant for needy people in the parish.

The charitable English Churches Housing Group (ECHG) has applied to the Charities Commission to change the terms of the 21-year-old McMorran legacy, which is worth more than £200,000. It wants the option to use the money to build affordable homes for needy people outside the Bledlow Ridge area.

Some Bledlow-cum-Saunderton parish councillors and residents believe this use of the money would be inappropriate. They say that although the English Churches Housing Group is a charity, it is also a commercial organisation which raises income from building property for rent.

Bledlow resident George Bishop, of Chinnor Road, said: 'The money could be used anywhere in Buckinghamshire.The effect of this is not only that the original purpose of the legacy will be lost, but that the money available for Bledlow Ridge will potentially be severely reduced.'

Mick Evins, parish council clerk, said the council was against the application. He said: 'Whether there are needy people in Bledlow Ridge is not the point. We would like the money used for the people in Bledlow Ridge and we have protested and written to the charities commission. They should be in no doubt about the feeling against this change.'

Louise Margaret McMorran, who lived near St Paul's Church, died in 1979 and left a large part of her estate to the English Churches Trust - the fundraising arm of the ECHG.

The ECHG refused to comment but a Charities Commission spokesmansaid: 'We are building up a scheme to modernise the objectives of the English Churches Housing Group.'