A PLANNED housing development on the site of a 17th-century battlefield is an “insult” to the soldiers who lost their lives there, critics have said.

Cala Homes wants to move a war memorial and build a multi-million-pound estate on Covenanters’ Field in Bothwell, Lanarkshire. There are plans for 15 homes on the site of the 1679 Battle of Bothwell Bridge.

But the move has drawn fierce protests from objectors, who claim it would be an “act of desecration” at an important historic site.

Ten objections have been lodged so far, with some from as far afield as the United States....