Parish councillors in Sandford-on-Thames have registered their opposition to 4,000 new homes on the outskirts of Oxford.

A proposed scheme for 1,000 new homes south of Grenoble Road, near Oxford United's Kassam Stadium, has been withdrawn from the county council's Structure Plan, which decides how many new homes in the county will be built up until 2016.

But residents fear developers planning a 4,000-home development will try to resurrect the plans at the examination-in-public of the Structure Plan in October.

City council leaders have expressed support for the plan but county councillors are opposed.

Parish councillors in Sandford said landowner Magdalen College and Thames Water gave them a presentation explaining the proposals at a meeting on Monday (August 9) but they were not convinced.

Chairman Dr Nigel Northcott said: "This scheme does not get past first base as far as we are concerned.

"The Grenoble Road site is Green Belt. The Green Belt is not up for review and no-one has made a convincing argument as to why it should be.

"What particularly disappoints us in Sandford is that it has taken so long for the developers even to consider that we were worth being consulted when their proposals would have a huge effect on the lives of people in this village."

Last month it emerged that a 30 per cent increase in housing planned by the South East England Regional Assembly could result in an additional 40,000 homes being built in Oxfordshire over the next 20 years.

The assembly's planning committee says the number of new homes in the South East will have to rise to 36,000 a year.

Seera's plans could now see 77,000 homes being built in Oxfordshire by 2026. Present plans allow for 37,000.