Residents of a west Oxfordshire town are campaigning against proposals for up to 100 new homes on an area of land.

The site, off New Road at Bampton, has been included for development in the revised Local Plan for the district.

But the fight to stop the scheme is not over. The draft Local Plan, providing planning policy up to the year 2011, went out to consultation earlier this year and a Local Plan Inquiry will be held in July next year.

The district council's director of planning, Andrew Tucker, said: "Land off New Road in Bampton was allocated for housing in the Local Plan to meet the high level of local housing needed. We had 312 objections to the development and 40 in support."

Bampton parish councillors, members of the Bampton Environmental Watch Group and members of the Society for the Protection of Bampton have all raised objections.

They said there are about 1,000 houses in the village, so 100 will increase the population by 10 per cent, which would have an adverse effect on local services including the school and doctors' surgery.

District councillor Jonathan Phillips, who supports the plan, said: "There is a grave shortage of affordable housing."

The district council's development control committee will decide whether they want to pursue a housing allocation in the town and keep it in the Local Plan.