A council is hoping to claw back some of the money it spent on a planning inquiry into a housing development on a former US air base.

Cherwell District Council spent between £400,000 and £500,000 fighting plans by North Oxfordshire Consortium to build 1,000 homes on the former base at Upper Heyford, now known as Heyford Park.

The council won its case when the deputy prime minister, John Prescott, turned down an appeal by the consortium, which made no secret of its plans to build more than the 1,000 houses they would be restricted to under the Oxfordshire structure plan.

Both Cherwell and NOC applied for costs at the end of the five-week planning inquiry last year.

Mr Prescott's department will make a final decision on their request.

Cherwell council leader George Reynolds said: "We had difficulty in finding the money and had to raid several budgets, although we did get a contribution from the county council."

District councillor Catherine Fulljames, chairman of Cherwell's south area planning committee, said: "It was the most expensive public inquiry we've ever had."

Patrick Burke, Cherwell's policy planning manager, said: "The council was forced into defending its position and it did very successfully too."

He said that NOC would now be restricted to developing the site to 1,000 homes. He added that NOC would also have to help pay for the costs of clearing disused buildings from the airfield.

Keith Watson, chief executive officer of NOC, said: "We're waiting for a letter on how costs will be awarded."

He added that the NOC did not want to comment further on the outcome of the appeal.