City council planners are looking to grab enough Green Belt land to build at least 12,000 homes as part of a controversial urban extension, it was claimed last night.

Oxford City Council confirmed it was interested in obtaining 530 hectares of land from South Oxfordshire in an area south of Grenoble Road near Greater Leys.

The move has outraged Green Belt campaigners and South Oxfordshire councillors as the area is almost three times the 180 hectares of land required to build 4,000 homes, the number the authority has said it intends to build.

Documents passed to the Oxford Mail show for the first time the chunk of land the city has asked the Boundary Committee for England to review as part of its plans to redraw the city borders.

A decision will be made next year.

The land stretches from the A4074 by Sandford-on-Thames in the west almost up to Horspath and Garsington in the east and Toot Baldon in the south.

Oxfordshire's director for the Campaign to Protect Rural England Dr Helena Whall said: "Oxford City Council's intentions are now clear. It wants to expand exponentially and develop Oxford's Green Belt in stages.

"It is not bidding for 530 hectares of Oxford's Green Belt for a limited development of 4,000 affordable homes and to protect what remains of the Green Belt.

"It is bidding for this land because it wants to build, over time, more and more homes on Oxford's Green Belt. They could erect 12,000 homes comfortably, but we think they could build up to 20,000 homes on the site if they wanted."

Toot Baldon resident Charles Stanley, 45, said: "If they manage to move the boundary to include all this land in years to come they will be building on it.

"That would ruin our village and it would ruin the city of Oxford."

The city council has long seen the land as key to solving its housing crisis with 6,100 householders living in over-crowded homes.

The land is principally owned by the city council, Magdalen College and Thames Water.

Deputy city council leader Ed Turner, executive member for housing and strategic planning, said: "We wanted to include all this land as the worst scenario for us would be if the review said the most appropriate land for development was outside what we applied for.

"We want want to see this new development protected by the Green Belt.

“It's unthinkable the entire area will be developed. "

Mr Turner could not guarantee further homes would not be built in the future.

He added: "Some people would say if there is more available land we should build on it, but there are no current plans to build further homes.

"This is about lifting people out of some miserable conditions and it shouldn't be seen as a threat."

South Oxfordshire District Council leader Ann Ducker said: "I'm staggered the committee didn't seek our views given the impact a review could have on our comm- unities."