Green Belt land near Oxford United's Kassam Stadium is being lined up for more than 1,000 homes.

A proposal to build on land south of Grenoble Road won the backing of Oxfordshire county councillors, who say it will greatly ease pressure for major housing developments in Bicester and around Kidlington.

The land, predominantly owned by Magdalen College, stretches from Greater Leys to the Oxford Science Park, which the college owns and is keen to expand.

The county council voted by 37 to 22 to allow "an urban extension of Oxford" beyond the ring road.

This would require a substantial redrawing of Oxford's Green Belt boundary, but is likely to be included in the county's new draft structure plan.

Councillors also voted for a major reversal of County Hall's planning strategy by rejecting that Bicester "should continue to be a focus for development".

They called for the controversial proposal to build 1,000 extra homes in Bicester between 2011 and 2016 to be dropped, with Oxford effectively being asked to take a big share of the county's new housing.

The idea of developing the site south of Oxford ring road was put forward by both Oxford City Council and Magdalen College.

But the county's structure plan working party rejected their submissions, opting instead for housing developments in Bicester, Didcot and Grove, along with a new community near Kidlington.

The county's planning blueprint concluded that the Begbroke-Kidlington-Yarnton area was "the only suitable place for a new community".

Chris Cousins, the county council's head of sustainable development, said: "The working party decided that it did not want to go into the Green Belt. There were also a number of problems with the site, where there is a sewage works, overhead power lines and an electricity sub-station."

But Bicester south councillor Charles Shouler (Conservative) and Kidlington councillor Christopher Robins (Labour) successfully moved that the county should back Oxford's expansion south, into the Green Belt.

Mr Shouler, former county council chairman, said: "Developing the site would not impinge on views of the Dreaming Spires, nor cause any convergence of neighbouring villages. It is also out of the flood plain.

"The sewage works could be moved and the high-voltage lines diverted or put underground."

The debate on the new county structure plan will continue at County Hall on June 24.