Church of England plans to create a new church-aided school in Cowley have infuriated Catholics, who say it could jeopardise the proposed Catholic school in the city.

Officials within the Church of England want to open a new school for 1,200 pupils on the site of the former Cowley St John School in Cricket Road.

The plan was condemned as "confrontational" by Catholic education spokesman Father Marcus Stock, with the two churches now in direct competition for the fifth Oxford secondary school.

The surprise proposal for the new school came after talks between Catholics and the Church of England over the future of St Augustine's School broke down. The governing body of St Augustine's School wanted their school to continue as a joint Catholic/ Church of England school.

A reorganisation plan has been approved by Oxfordshire County Council to abolish middle schools and have only primary and secondary schools.

With the plan only allowing for one new secondary school in the city, the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev Richard Harries, said the Church of England had to propose their own school to keep an Anglican presence in the city.

Father Marcus said he had heard the news with "deep regret". He said: "This new consultative proposal completely ignores the existing proposal for the establishment of a Catholic Voluntary Aided Secondary school."

He said the Church of England should have either proposed a sixth secondary school in the city or ensured one of the four existing schools had a solid church foundation.

The Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, said: "This new consultative document represents yet another policy change adopted by the Oxford Diocesan Board in these difficult matters."

Transforming Cowley St John into a school would cost tens of thousands of pounds, but it could be ready by September 2003. The Anglicans will publish a consultation document setting out their plans.