Two museums, a gallery and a tourist information centre will all be developed alongside a hotel, county planners have stressed.

Oxfordshire County Council insists that the controversial plans will help protect the Oxford Prison site's important heritage rather than pose a threat to it.

Their comments have been made amid growing concern that plans for a hotel do not offer the best option for Oxford residents and do not do enough to reflect the site's heritage.

Thousands of people have signed a petition circulated by the Oxford Civic Society, urging councillors to hand control of the site to a representative corporate trust instead of a large developer. The county responded by saying that legal experts have advised the authority to keep ownership of the site but grant a lease to the hotel developers, The Osborne Group.

The council's strategy and resources committee will consider the plans on October 26.

Neil Monaghan, the county's chief property officer, said: "The county council is as concerned as everyone else that that the important historic elements of the site are protected and enhanced, but we believe that cannot be done without involving the private sector." He added that the lease would be coupled with a management agreement, setting down strict rules for management and maintenance of the site.

The county has also agreed with the idea of setting up a charitable trust to take over the running of the museum and the Castle Mound.

Trevor Osborne, the entrepreneur who runs The Osborne Group, said: "We are excited by the opportunity to create a truly public place in Oxford from what has been, for centuries, a part of the city hidden from the public gaze.

"Our plans will be sympathetic to the architecture and heritage of the buildings and will create a vibrant range of mixed uses to the benefit of the city."

Commenting on the huge reaction to the petition, Edwin Townsend-Coles, chairman of the Oxford Civic Society, said: "What is clear is that there are possibly thousands of people who want this very important site to go to a corporate trust."

Story date: Monday 11 October

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