A developer has withdrawn plans to build 900 houses on farmland just outside Bicester following objections from scores of residents.

But Cherwell District Council leader Barry Wood has warned the latest move may not be the end of the matter.

Plans for the "urban extension" on a 38-hectare site at Dymocks Farm, Caversfield, were recommended for refusal at a recent planning meeting, but developer Lowstrand Properties withdrew its application before councillors had a chance to discuss the development.

Mr Wood said: "I would not be popping the Champagne corks just yet. They may be trying to counter some of the reasons for refusal.

"Anyone who is opposed to this application should not think this is the end of it."

Earlier this year Mr Wood warned that even if local councillors rejected the proposals, they could still be approved on appeal.

Some 111 residents wrote letters opposing the plans, which also include a primary school, supermarket, cafe and community centre.

Caversfield Parish Council, Stratton Audley Parish Council, Fringford Parish Council, Oxfordshire County Council, the Environment Agency and the Bicester branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England also objected.

A report by district council planning officers said the development should be thrown out because it was unsustainable, unnecessary and the site was not earmarked for housing in local planning documents.

Caversfield has a population of about 3,000, but no pub, shop or village hall. It would almost double in size if the plans get the go-ahead.

Lowstrand Properties submitted a similar application for the same site in 1998, but also withdrew it before a decision was made.