Officials have denied there has been any changes to their plans to build eco-towns across the UK – including a possible development in Leicestershire.

They were forced to clarify their position after shadow housing minister Grant Schapps claimed small print in the Government's future plans suggested the eco-towns programme had been "pushed back" to 2020.

Mr Schapps pointed out that the Government said last year it wanted to build five eco-towns by 2016 and 10 by 2020. But in Gordon Brown's Building Britain's Future document, published this week, only the 2020 target is noted.

During a House of Commons question time, Mr Schapps said: "The Prime Minister launched this eco-town programme in a blaze of publicity in May 2007 and then upped it to 10 eco-towns. Here we are two years later, the Government is still consulting about planning guidance."

The eco-towns programme is the Government's flagship policy to build new environmentally friendly settlements across the country.

The Co-op is proposing constructing 15,000 homes at the Pennbury site on 600 hectares of land between Great Glen and Oadby.

The group says the houses would be built to meet high environmental standards and that jobs, schools, shops, health facilities and parks would be provided within the eco-town.

But calling for the programme to be scrapped, Mr Schapps said: "Will the minister now just admit that this programme is a shambles?"

An official at the Department of Communities and Local Government, responsible for eco-towns, said that the there had been no shift in the programme's goals. The table in the Government document showed "end targets", the official said, and therefore only noted the final 2020 goal.

Housing Minister John Healey is due to announce before July 21 which of the current 11 schemes under consideration will make it on to the final shortlist.

A delegation of protesters from Leicestershire will head to Downing Street on Thursday to hand over a 15,000-name petition against the Pennbury plans.