County council leaders have promised to take "all reasonable steps" to ensure that Oxfordshire is free of GM crops.

Councillors also agreed at an executive board meeting that officers should continue to ensure that pupils in local schools are not given GM foods as part of their school meals.

Officers will use European legislation to "opt out" of the growing of a particular GM crop, if they believe such a course of action is justified, the meeting heard.

The decision follows lobbying last year from the county's farming community against the possible commercial growing of GM crops.

The Government is still evaluating the results of its trials and has not yet permitted commercial growing, but a decision could be imminent.

Andrew Wood, spokesman for the Oxford branch of Friends Of The Earth, said the board's "cautious" resolution fell short of declaring the county a "Gree zone". But he added that if council officers objected to the UK growing of GM crops every time there was an application affecting the UK, it would have the same effect. However, Mr Wood said that the board's resolution would not be able to prevent the establishment of Government trials of GM crops in the county.

Board members also agreed that farmers and producers who have signed up to the council's recently established Gree register should be consulted as to what measures might be feasible to protect the economic well-being of organic and other non-GM farmers and producers.

The executive board's decision follows a motion passed by the council last November outlining growing concerns in the county about GM crops.