City council leaders today agreed to press ahead with plans for four large wind turbines on a site on the edge of Oxford.

The council is in the early stages of discussions with experts about putting 125-metre generators on land near the BMW plant in Cowley and at Sandford Brake, close to Grenoble Road in Blackbird Leys.

Experts say there is enough room on each site to accommodate two turbines.

The scheme - which would cost more than £8m and generate enough electricity to power 5,000 homes a year - would be entirely funded by Partnership for Renewals (PfR), which is part of the Carbon Trust.

City council leader John Goddard told the executive board that building housing on land close to the turbines would not be ruled out.

He said: "If there is housing, you have to allow a safety area for the turbine to fall over.

"So far we have identified the most suitable sites in terms of access and windiness and we now need to go forward with a period of consultation before a planning application is made."

PfR would build the turbines, rent the land from the council and sell back power at a reduced rate - with the rest put on the National Grid.

Each mast would be 80 metres high with the rotors measuring 90 metres in diameter. Each would generate as much as three megawatts of power a year.

Council leaders welcomed the plans in principle and a further report will be presented at the board meeting on March 17.