The manager of a Jericho boatyard threatened with closure is hoping to relocate to a new canal site just outside Oxford.

British Waterways has asked Steve Goodlad to leave Castle Mill Boatyard because it requires the site for housing.

The organisation has struck a deal with Bellway Homes, which wants to build 46 flats next to the canal but Mr Goodlad is refusing to leave until he has somewhere else to go.

Now he believes that re-siting his yard on the Oxford Canal just north of the Peartree roundabout in north Oxford could be a real possibility.

He added: "I have had a verbal offer from British Waterways that land could be available on the canal next to Swing Bridge and I hope this plan comes off. "As soon as I get something in writing I will be prepared to move but not before because otherwise the offer might be withdrawn or given to someone else.

"I have got to be realistic -- the site is worth £2m and is needed for housing so I have got to look at other options.

"I think the site near the roundabout would be a perfect fit for the boating community -- it's only four miles away and for half the boats I serve it would be even more convenient.

"It's a small site but it would work very well and at least I would be able to continue providing a vital service for the boating community. "It may well be that some sort of heritage boatyard will be preserved on the Castle Mill site but that's not for me. I'm a welder not a tour guide. Once British Waterways provides me with a written statement of intent about the offer of a site I will move."

Mr Goodlad has received a County Court summons to an eviction hearing on April 25 but is asking for more time because a public inquiry into whether planning permission for the homes should be granted has not yet been completed.

Earlier this month, the inquiry was adjourned by a planning inspector who wants to hear more evidence and will do so in May.

The campaign to keep the boatyard open has been backed by north Oxford children's author Philip Pullman, who wrote the His Dark Materials trilogy, and set some of his work in Jericho. British Waterways launched the legal action against Mr Goodlad after he failed to leave the site by February 25, the last day of his extended lease.

Spokesman Murray Geddes confirmed that British Waterways was continuing to discuss a number of options with Mr Goodlad but refused to discuss the details.

He said earlier the two sides hoped to arrive at an "amicable solution" in the near future.