Fury is growing in some of Britain's most picturesque villages after residents were told thousands of new homes could be built across the Cotswolds under government housing targets.Council leaders have warned that beauty spots famous for their rolling hills, honey-coloured stone cottages and historic market towns risk being transformed beyond recognition as ministers push ahead with plans to build 1.5 million homes across England.Under proposals now being consulted on, some villages could triple - or even quadruple - in size over the next two decades.The biggest fears centre on communities outside the protected Cotswolds National Landscape boundary, where campaigners say development pressure is now being funnelled.One of the most controversial plans would see hundreds of homes built near Ampney Crucis, a tiny Domesday village near Cirencester with a population of around 600.Locals say the scale of the proposed expansion would destroy the character of the area forever.Neil Holt, a resident of Ampney Crucis, said that 'dumping 660 houses on the edge of a village' would destroy the community.He added: '[the] governments come and go but the Cotswolds will be living with the consequences forever.'