Plans for a £1m building to replace a run-down Baptist church building in Oxford should be refused, according to city council officers.

Planning officers oppose this design for Headington Baptist Church

Planning officers have received a number of objections to the proposed modern design for the new Headington Baptist Church, including one from the conservation group The Friends of Old Headington.

Councillors at the strategic development control committee on June 4 will be told the new building, designed by Milton Keynes-based architect David Grindley, would not fit in with surrounding buildings in Old High Street.

Officers say that the new church would neither preserve or enhance the special character of Old Headington Conservation Area.

But Philip Allison, councillor for Quarry and Risinghurst, is urging councillors to overturn the officers' recommendation and approve the plans.

He said the building would be a "very good example of modern architecture" and added: "It will be a great building to walk by with its glazed entrance area leading into a glazed entrance lobby and into the sanctuary, a large space with light coming in from above."

The minister, the Rev James Bloice Smith, said the officers' recommendation was a massive disappointment.

He added: "People from the church have raised £30,000 just to get us to this stage and that's a lot of money to go to waste.

"We took soundings at an early stage and the council seemed to welcome what we were doing.

"If we had known that the design had to fit in with an 18th or 19th century village scene, then we might have done things differently."

Mr Bloice Smith is hoping that the new church building will accommodate up to 200 people, and provide more space for mother and toddler groups. At the moment, the limit is 140.

One hundred years ago, the church moved to its present site from its original building in The Croft, where it started 50 years earlier.

No-one from The Friends of Old Headington was available for comment.