Plans for three new Midland "eco-towns" have been condemned as a "sick joke" with demands for ministers to reveal full details of the proposals.

The Government is considering building three new towns of up to 20,000 homes each in the region.

But ministers are refusing to release full details of the schemes to MPs or local councils.

The plans were drawn up by private developers after Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, called for the creation of zero-carbon towns which did not damage the environment.

The Government is considering 57 proposals, of which 10 will be chosen to go ahead.

Plans for an eco-town on the former Long Marston Army Camp near Stratford, Warwickshire, have been drawn up by the site's owners St Modwen Properties and the Bird Group.

Defence research firm QinetiQ is planning an eco-town at an old airfield at Throckmorton, Worcestershire.

And a consortium of developers including the Banks Group is planning an eco-town on a former airfield site at Curborough, near Lichfield, Staffordshire.

Any schemes which win Government approval will have to go through a full consultation and planning process.

But this will not begin until next year, and ministers have refused to discuss the plans or even formally reveal which areas are under consideration.

A spokesperson for the Department of Communities and Local Government said: "We are not naming the 57 expressions of interest because they are being looked at for viability.

"We will be naming the final 10 successful sites before the end of the financial year."

Throckmorton was the site for the mass burial of 130,000 carcasses following the foot and mouth outbreak of 2001 and the following year villagers fought off plans for an asylum centre.

It also has the largest landfill site in Worcestershire and Don Cheetham, chairman of Bishampton and Throckmorton Parish Council, ridiculed the idea of an eco-town in the area.

"Based on the comments we have received, a lot of people here are treating it like a bit of a joke, but it is a sick joke," he said.

"Who would like to live next to a burial site for animals or next to a tip? There are bound to be noxious fumes coming from the tip and it is going to be used for another 12 years."

Mid Worcestershire MP Peter Luff (Con), whose constituency covers Throckmorton, has tabled a series of parliamentary questions in an effort to force ministers to reveal their plans.

He said: "It's not just houses - it's roads, GP surgeries, schools, employment land, leisure facilities, shops and so on - everything a new town will need.

"This means that, if built, the impact on this part of Worcestershire would be huge."

He added: "These eco-towns are a bright idea of Gordon Brown, but I'm sceptical as to whether or not they will be genuinely environ-mentally friendly, or just a way of dumping more houses on rural England."

Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant said he was furious at the lack of consultation.

He said: "There has been no consultation about this and I have tabled parliamentary questions to Hazel Blears, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, regarding this.

"I am also calling for an emergency parliamentary debate."

Stratford MP John Maples (Con) said councils were already under pressure to build new homes. He said: "We know that the Government is asking us to build more homes. If the eco-town homes counts towards that total, then it may be a sensible way of doing it.

"However, as things stand, the eco-towns will be on top of the new housing we are already expected to provide."

Developers St Modwen said the proposed town in Warwickshire would cover 600 acres and create up to 6,000 new homes. Director Peter Robbins said: "It is not just housing, but a whole community. Our proposals take in the need for transport, education, health services and jobs."

A spokesman for QinetiQ said: "We have simply been told the Government that the Worcestershire site might be worth considering. There is nothing more concrete than that and certainly nothing like any detailed plans for how the site could be used."

The Government says eco-towns will be small towns of between 5,000 and 20,000 homes, with their own separate and distinct identities, but good transport links to neighbouring towns and cities.