Neighbours have hit out at plans by Banbury School to sell part of its playing field for houses.

The school is looking at selling part of the playing field bordering Springfield Avenue to finance £750,000 improvements to sports facilities.

It is not known how many homes could go on the site, next to the school’s former Stanbridge Hall, which is already being redeveloped for 70 flats for OAPs.

The total area of land to be sold has not yet been decided.

Principal Dr Fiona Hammans said the school had a surplus of playing field land.

Yet some Springfield Avenue residents criticised the plan.

Nurse Claire Hunt, 43, said: “The road is busy enough as it is so there will be more noise from there. It is a big school. They need that amount of ground for the number of kids they have got there.”

James Crain, 57, said: “I’m not in favour of it. They have already done something with (Stanbridge Hall), they didn’t say they were going to sell the field off. My garden is going to be overlooked.”

But pensioner Joan Kinsey said: “If that is what they want to do then let them do it.”

Dr Hammans said the sell-off was needed because the school missed out on a £20m refurbishment programme. It was hoping for the cash under Labour’s national Building Schools for the Future scheme, which the coalition massively scaled back, including £62m in Oxfordshire.

Dr Hammans said: “The changing rooms are desperately in need of extending and refurbishment. The sports hall needs refurbishment. It is like the 1950s.”

The cash would also pay for an all-weather pitch closest to Bloxham Road, she said.

Dr Hammans said: “What upsets me is there is no way we can get any capital funding elsewhere unless we generate it ourselves.”

The land that could be sold is only used on school sports day and at break periods, she said, but there was other land with three playing fields over 13 acres.

This is the result of the 1967 merger of four former schools at the site, Banbury Grammar School in Stanbridge Hall, Easington Modern School, Easington Girls School and Grimsbury School, she said. The school has about 1,400 pupils.

An exhibition on the plans will be held at the Ruskin Road school next Wednesday from 3.30pm to about 7pm.

n In 2008, we reported how school land sales had brought in £56.4m since 1997, including part of Botley Primary School’s playing field for homes for £2.5m. The council had not provided up to date figures at the time of going to press.