p>It's the part of the world known for bringing the world flat caps, rolling hills and rugby league, but is the north of England also the cause of the housing shortages in the West?

A straight-talking councillor has put forward his idea that the demand for housing in Cheltenham would be reduced if the Government banned northerners from moving south.

The solution by Norman Hall, a councillor on Leckhampton with Warden Hill Parish Council, was branded "communist" at a recent meeting, but he claimed it was merely "common sense".

Mr Hall said: "It seems to me that the plan for all this housing assumes lots of people moving here and that would probably mean from the north to the south.

"Perhaps there needs to be a policy restricting the amount of people who are able to move down here. It isn't an issue for tonight, but perhaps it's something that our MP needs to stick his oar into."

Mr Hall told the council that unemployment seen in northern towns would often encourage people to move to the more affluent south.

Ken Johnston, a member of the public watching the meeting, interrupted by saying "that's communism".

And other parish councillors cautioned that controlling the movement of people was not the right thing to do.

But Mr Hall added: "There simply won't be the amount of jobs down here. Our colleague over there seems to think it's communism, but I think it's common sense."

Northerners to come to the town include Cheltenham Town defender Luke Garbutt, who hails from Merseyside, Gloucester Rugby player Mike Tindall, who comes from Yorkshire, and Sir Geoff Hurst, who was born in Lancashire.

And Cheltenham must appeal to politicians as well, with Tewkesbury's Tory MP Laurence Robertson and Cheltenham Borough Council's Liberal Democrat finance chief John Webster coming from the north.

The suggestion has been criticised by residents. Barnsley-born Craig Yoxall, 35, who moved to Ashford Road in 2009, said: "The only reason I moved down here was to prolong my life, because apparently you get an extra ten years down south, so I reckon the selfish southerners should share out the longer life with everybody."

The remedy was suggested during a debate about the Joint Core Strategy, which could see 1,300 homes built on the edge of Leckhampton and more across the rest of Gloucestershire.

ECHO Editor Kevan Blackadder is a proud northerner - here is his reaction to councillor Hall's sugestion:

IT’S just as well Norman Hall’s “ban all Northerners” campaign hadn’t been a success when I made my big decision to move south many years ago.

As a proud Northerner, I left Cumbria behind with a heavy heart but was delighted to have landed a great job in Bristol.

Since then I’ve had numerous jobs “down south” and was proud to be appointed editor of the Echo in 2008.

Unlike Mr Hall, I’ve found people throughout the South West to be wonderfully welcoming. Most of the time, they can even understand what I am saying.