Controversial proposals to extend a sandpit close to a rural community near Abingdon have been overwhelmingly rejected by county councillors.

For the second time in 13 years, councillors have backed villagers at Tubney who strongly object to further excavation work taking place only 100 metres from the nearest homes.

Residents of the village, off the A420 near the Appleton turn, formed a protest group in 1988 to fight original plans by extractors, Hills Mineral and Waste Ltd, to create a quarry in woodland owned by Magdalen College, Oxford.

Oxfordshire County Council rejected the proposals, but Hills won planning consent on appeal the following year, and have since almost worked out the present site.

This time, county officers recommended approval of the company's latest plans to extend the quarry by almost 40 per cent, to excavate another 225, 000 tonnes of soft sand over a three-year period. The proposal was linked to a second application from Hills aimed at changing recent restoration of the site from commercial forestry to grassland.

But after a long debate yesterday, members of the county's planning sub-committee rejected both applications by ten votes to one.