Derbyshire County Primary Care Trust wrote to borough councils asking for a contribution from developers of £512 per house where five or more properties are built to pay for the effect of the rising population on local health care services, including doctors and dentists.

This week Amber Valley Borough Council rejected the proposal.

Chairman of the planning board Cllr Jack Brown said: "We're supposed to be building affordable houses, trying to look after the poor people out there to get on to the property ladder, and we're being told to put another £512 on top of everything else? It's a disgrace.

"People already pay tax and National Insurance, and now they want you to pay again."

Cllr Juliette Blake said: "It's a stealth tax.

"Five houses is quite a small development and this would cost a developer more than £2,500 on five homes."

However, there was some support for the move.

Cllr Brian Lyttle said: "We often demand money from developers for local schools, and that's centrally funded.

" This proposal would help the areas where houses are going up.

"Why should this be any different to schools? It's only large developments we're talking about here."

A spokesman for the primary care trust said: "This is a nationwide practice.

"The money may be used to help pay for extensions to existing facilities or to put new facilities in areas of high population growth .

"If the trust is unable to raise funding in this way for the local population, we will need to assess how we can best raise the money by other means."