SOUTHFIELD Golf Course in Oxford has been saved from being turned into a massive housing development - for the time being.

The city council has decided not to include the Hill Top Road course in a list of sites for possible housing developments.

Concern about environmental factors played a large part in the decision, including the number of badger setts around the course.

In a document published last year, the council's planning department said the privately-owned course could take as many as 1,300 new homes and go some way to solving the city's housing shortage.

The land was identified as one of four areas that could accommodate as many as 3,000 new homes after 2016.

However, after detailed surveys, the golf course has been dropped.

But the other sites - at Barton, Summertown and Pear Tree - are all still seen as having potential for housing.

Southfield Golf Club secretary Colin Whittle, 56, said: "We're relieved, because there was a big cloud hanging over us, but we did a lot of campaigning.

"The main issues appear to have been ecological and hydrological issues. And there are so many badger setts on the course that they may well have helped our cause.

"We will carry on campaigning to ensure the long-term future of the course, but for now this is good news for our members."

The city's chief planning officer, Michael Crofton-Briggs, said: "We received a lot of objections from people raising concerns about Southfield Golf Club.

"When we first consulted, we looked at developing between 350-550 dwellings per annum in the city. Now we have a suggestion the city should be providing nearer the lower edge of that range - between 350-430 dwellings per annum."