A housing estate on former school land in Wantage should be allowed, district councillors have agreed.

Vale of White Horse District Council gave Westbury Homes permission to build 65 homes on the 3.1-acre Garston Lane Primary School site.

Outline permission for residential development was granted last January.

When Westbury Homes later revealed it wanted to build 66 houses and flats, residents and Wantage Town Council complained of overdevelopment and traffic congestion and said the properties would clash with local architecture.

The developer reduced the number of homes to 65 and said some three-storey buildings would be two storeys instead.

Wantage Town Council and residents said this was not enough. Forty-six letters of objection were sent to the district council and 185 people signed a petition.

About 40 people attended the development control meeting in Abingdon on Monday, to show their opposition.

Ten committee members voted for the application, with one against and four abstentions.

After the meeting, petition organiser Jane Greenhalgh, of Garston Lane, said she was disgusted by the outcome.

She said: "We weren't told the details until it was too late."

Howard Hill, on behalf of residents and Wantage Chamber of Commerce, said: "The council's existing local plan recommends 30 to 50 dwellings per hectare for a town centre development, which this is not.

"A figure in the 30s is more appropriate. Plans show two-and-a-half to three-storey buildings. There are no other dwellings like this in Garston Lane.

"This is setting a precedence, rather than following the local environment."

But VWHDC planning officer Paul Butt said the development was "sensitive" and met both national guidelines and the council's emerging local plan.

He said it was not as dense as the controversial Letcombe Park development, off the Wharf, Wantage, where some buildings are four-storey.

A Westbury Homes spokesman said it had co-operated with planning officers and did its best to incorporate vernacular style into designs.

Ten committee members voted for the application, with one against and four abstentions.

After the meeting, petition organiser Jane Greenhalgh, of Garston Lane, said she was disgusted by the outcome.

She said: "We were wiped out by Mr Butt and never stood a chance. We are all very angry.

"We were only ever told that the school was closing and there would be housing in its place. We were not told the details until it was too late."

Wantage district councillor Jim Moley said: "These are reworked, off-the-shelf stock designs. An attempt has been made, but rather inadequately."