Plans for two major Oxford University buildings have been approved, despite being branded ugly.

Oxford city councillors granted planning permission for the chemistry and molecular science buildings at South Parks Road.

It is envisaged research work carried out in the department, to be sited near Mansfield College, will be of international importance, but some councillors were unhappy and tried to delay the decision.

Liberal Democrat David Connett said the scheme, which was redesigned to limit the impact on the college's Grade II listed buildings, looked like "an institutional building from the '70s." He said: "It's ugly. I only hope the chemistry students that will eventually inhabit the building will do for it what Guy Fawkes did for Parliament."

Green councillor Xanthe Bevis added: "It looks like an electric heater and has none of the gothic elegance of the nearby Mansfield Chapel."

But council leader John Tanner warned members that delaying a decision would send out the wrong signals to education and business leaders.

He said: "This is a major opportunity for education and science and we should grasp it."

Story date: Tuesday 23 November

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