Pressure was heaped on the new communities minister to scrap controversial plans that would mean more than 117,000 new homes being built in the former Avon area.

Shahid Malik was rounded on by angry MPs who called for him to use his recent appointment to the department that set the targets as an opportunity to scrap the "derailed and discredited" house-building blueprint.

The Government was forced to delay its decision on the South West Regional Spatial Strategy after a legal ruling blocked a similar scheme in the east of England. Across the region, 500,000 new homes must be built by 2026, according the proposals, with more than one fifth of those planned for Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset.

After being quizzed by Weston-super-Mare MP John Penrose, the Government insisted it will report back on whether it is pushing ahead with the proposals in the next few months.

But, during a Commons debate, MPs told the minister it was time to scrap the targets and give cash to local authorities instead to allow them to build affordable housing in the places where they are most needed.

Mr Malik said MPs "were missing the point" about the strategies which are absolutely essential in ensuring that the Government meets its target of 240,000 extra homes by 2016.

Asked whether now was the time to ditch the controversial plans he replied: "Seldom have I heard such a lot of rubbish. The regional spatial strategies are crucial in ensuring that we get the housing outcomes that we want. With respect to the east of England judgment, small procedural elements needed to be readdressed, and the issue has been remitted to the Secretary of State.

"We will put it right and we will learn the lessons from the east of England and apply them to the south-west. "They (the strategies) are to ensure that there is an integrated, holistic approach that takes stock of the challenge of climate change."