A gardener has vowed not to sell his allotment - despite housing developers offering him and other plot holders £35,000 each for their land.

The cash windfall has been accepted by most of the 30 allotment holders off Rowan Road, Bicester, with the gardeners agreeing to sell their plots to Beazer Homes Redditch so 60 new homes can be built.

The homes plan has been rubber-stamped by councillors and negotiations are under way between the developers and gardeners to complete the deal. Those who sell stand to make huge returns on their investments, with the average allotment costing only £4,000 to buy.

But despite the potential profits, Roger Smith, of Banbury Road, said he will refuse the cash to continue cultivating his land.

He said: "I'm staying put. If they build these houses they will have to go around my plot and fence it in. I'm not interested in the money, I'm still hoping it won't be built at all."

Duncan Chadwick, Cherwell District Council's planning control manager, said: "Beazer have reached an agreement in principle with most of the allotment owners but one of the problems is that one of them is refusing to sell. "His allotment is right in the middle so there will have to be negotiations. They can't build all these homes around one allotment."

But while everything is coming up roses for the gardeners, people living in houses backing on to the five-acre site are fuming at the prospect of having houses overlooking their gardens.

Former town mayor Charles Brees, of Banbury Road, said: "This development is a terrible idea. The walls will be 50ft from my house, overlooking the garden. The traffic flow will also be chaos."

Colin Honham, managing director of Beazer Homes Redditch said: "I have no comment to make about individual payments for land but we are very pleased the application has been approved and we look forward to building these houses."

Story date: Friday 09 April

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