A court in Luoyang, Central China's Henan Province, began hearing a case of 266 households who are suing their local government over land requisition and violation of regulations that should have protected the old town.

The 266 families claimed the Laocheng (old town) district government began a policy of requisition of land in the ancient town on August 8 last year, ordering the seizure of more than 1,000 mu (66.7 hectares) in a move that contradicts the city's 2011-2020 overall plan and the country's regulation on ancient town protection.

The case was heard Friday.

The Laocheng district government initiated the land requisition plan without holding public hearings and the compensation did not go through proper evaluation, according to some of the households.

"Under laws and regulations, nobody is allowed to build new houses or renovate houses in the key protection areas of historical streets," said 69-year-old resident He Boting.

"The government actually plans to demolish the historical streets, sell the land to developers to build new pseudo-classic architectures," He said, "and we will not agree to such sabotage of the ancient town in the name of commercial development."

The Luoyang Intermediate People's Court will release a verdict on the case at a later date.

Commercial development of ancient towns has been a trend across China in recent years and has long been criticized by the public for damaging ancient culture.

It is reportedly the biggest lawsuit against the government in the province and the first case of its kind in the city, after a revised draft of the Administrative Procedure Law was put to the standing committee of the National People's Congress for preliminary review in December.