PLANS to put on concerts for up to 5,000 people in a Dorset Forest have angered residents.

The Forestry Commission is planning to deforest an area of almost 16 acres in Ashley Heath forest and to replace it with a "recre ation site" and parking for 2,000 cars.

The site will be used six times a year for orienteering and events for scout groups, but also concerts on two consecutive days every summer.

The first concert could be held next year and it is not known who could be playing, but Forestry Commission sites elsewhere have played host to KT Turnstall, James Blunt, Jools Holland, The Charlatans and Katherine Jenkins.

Entry to the site will be via the B3081 Verwood Road - a dangerous road according to local people.

Ashley Heath resident Frank Peach said there had been a lack of public consultation from the Forestry Commission and branded the plans a "fait accompli."

The former councillor said the proposed site was too near children's attractions.

"I don't want to take my grandchildren to the tree top trail and have to be looking out for needles, condoms and human waste," he said.

A spokesman for the Forestry Commission said the 6.3 hectare site was less than two per cent of the total area of Ashley Heath and that a one way traffic system on the existing gravel roads would manage traffic flow in and out of the forest.

No permanent features would be added to the site and the latest digital sound systems would be used to ensure concerts did not flout local authority noise guidelines, the spokesman added.

The Forestry Commission took its plans to St Leonards and St Ives Parish Council on January 9 and has made presentations to the civic leaders.

Councillors could face demands for a full consultation at a meeting on February 27.