OXFORD University is to renew its battle to create a £29m book depository on the Osney Mead industrial estate.

It has confirmed that it will be appealing against Oxford City Council's decision to throw out the scheme, rather than seeking an alternative site as critics had hoped.

The university sees the creation of the depository, which would have capacity for eight million books, as crucial to the long-term future of the world-famous Bodleian Library, as well as to its plans to refurbish the New Bodleian.

But opponents of the scheme immediately accused the university of trying to avoid criticism by announcing its plans to appeal just before Christmas, in a public notice in The Oxford Times.

City councillors had refused to give planning permission for the depository because of concerns over possible flooding problems and the impact the building could have on views of Oxford's dreaming spires.

The university's decision to fight on is now expected to lead to a costly public inquiry, in what threatens to become a classic Town-versus-Gown dispute, with Oxford Preservation Trust, the Oxford Civic Society and the Oxford Green Belt Network all lining up behind the council in opposition.

Debbie Dance, director of Oxford Preservation Trust, said: "It is disappointing. We had hoped that the university would have taken the council decision more seriously.

"It does seem a strange time of year to make this announcement. Perhaps they wanted their plans to appeal to go through quietly."