Plans to build a Sikh temple in Banbury could cause public unrest, Cherwell District Council has been warned.

The council has received a planning application to build a temple and community centre in Longlandes Way, next to the Musketeer pub.

The land is owned by the council and used as an amenity play area.

Nearby residents have been told of the proposal by the council's planning and development department.

Objections to the plans must be submitted in writing before the end of the year.

Ruscote Community Association, chaired by former Banbury town councillor Brian Scutter, has already sent a letter outlining local concerns.

Mr Scutter said: "This is not a racial thing. We're not just objecting to a Sikh temple -- we don't want any sort of building on that site. It's leisure land and should remain as that."

He added: "The land must stay as a leisure facility. A fun fair goes there twice a year, Radio Horton holds a roadshow there, the district council runs a sports day on the site, and Ruscote Youth Club uses it."

The letter points out there is already a community centre opposite the proposed site, operated by Cherwell Council without restrictions. It is open to all and is used every night by the Islamic Mosque Society and by the Jubilee Church on Sundays.

The letter says: "Sikh representatives have clearly laid down restrictions on their planned temple by stating that users must remove shoes and cover their heads -- therefore restricting its use as a community centre."

On traffic, the letter says the area is already congested, and more vehicles would worsen the situation and create unrest.

There are an estimated 800 Sikhs in the Cherwell district.

The temple plans show less than 40 parking spaces.

Mr Scutter said the application had already gone further than people knew, and that surveyors had been on the land.

The temple was first proposed last year.

A protest group, the Ruscote and Hardwick Action Committee, was set up to fight the scheme, chaired by Colin Giles who runs the Musketeer.

More than 300 people attended a protest meeting in Ruscote Community Centre last year.

Cherwell District Council's chief executive Grahame Handley said the site was set aside for community use -- which would include a Sikh temple and social centre.

He said: "The land has been independently valued and could be offered to the Sikh community at the going rate.

"We will be prepared to sell the land if the Sikh community wants it -- if their planning application succeeds."

No-one from the Sikh community was available for comment.