Farming brothers Anthony and Lawrence Bonner have at last been officially informed that a council needs 40 acres of their land for a £4m sports complex.

Only now that Cherwell District Council has applied for a change-of-use for the site, off Howes Lane, Bicester, from agriculture to sport, have they been notified.

As reported in the Oxford Mail, the council announced it was targeting their land in January. The brothers only found out its plans by reading a newspaper report.

Anthony Bonner, who farms in Whitfield, near Brackley. said: "We thought that was typical of a council. It was only this week that our agent was told that the council wanted our land. We cannot consider anything until we see what the council proposes."

Cherwell's sport and recreational manager, Chris Rothwell, explained that several landowners were initially told the council was looking for land for sports pitches on the fringes of Bicester.

The town is going to have a shortfall of about 40 acres of sport/recreational land between now and 2011.

Mr Rothwell said that after landowners replied, a report went to a committee identifying the Bonners' land as the best potential site. He added: "We accept the blame that we should have informed the Bonners that we were interested in their land at that time."

If necessary, Cherwell will seek a compulsory purchase order to buy the land. But Bicester South county councillor Charles Shouler - a relative of the Bonners - said the council would have to prove that there is no other land available for the purpose.