LAND has been secured for the first phase of the controversial £1.5bn Bicester eco-town.

P3Eco, the consortium working on the project with Cherwell District Council, says it has acquired enough land to build 1,000 homes.

A 5,000-home community will be created over the next 30 years on farmland on the north-west edge of Bicester.

P3Eco aims to submit a planning application for 200 homes by the summer.

If permission is given, work could start on the initial development of 200 homes by next spring.

Development of the next 800 homes would depend on the progress of the first phase.

P3Eco chairman Ian Inshaw said it had secured 100 acres of land, but would not reveal which landowners had agreed to sell. He added: “We’re in discussion with lots of landowners and suffice to say, we’re very close to agreement with several.”

Mr Inshaw said a master plan for the entire 850-acre site would be submitted to the council by the end of the year.

Last summer, North West Bicester was one of four sites selected by the Government for an eco-town. There has been local opposition over its size and the fact it would be built on green fields.

Odette and Geoff Phipps, who own the 100-acre Home Farm confirmed they have agreed to sell land. They said: “We have compromised. We don’t know how much land, it’s still vague, because they haven’t done any plans.”

The couple will continue to live at the farm and will retain business units they let out.