Hazel Blears lays into Prince Charles' ego-town

Communities minister Hazel Blears has criticised a model community championed by Prince Charles, commenting that it owed more to self-aggrandisement than any "real concern for the residents".

She compared the "sustainable community" in Poundbury, Dorset to the 19th century village project built by industrialists for their factory workers.

The village was created in 1987 on a tract of land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall and buildings are required to feature several energy saving devices.

But the Daily Mail reported today that Blears dismissed the entire development in a speech to the Fabian Society in Westminster.