Money from the proposed development of Oxford's Territorial Army Centre for housing should be used to create a county military museum, say campaigners.

Oxford City Council owns the freehold on Slade Park Barracks, in Mascall Avenue, off Horspath Driftway, and will receive millions of pounds if the scheme gets the go-ahead.

The Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust has called on the council to use some of the money to create a home for the archives of the county's old regiments.

The Ministry of Defence's property arm, Defence Estates, which leases the land from the council, last week submitted outline plans to demolish the barracks and build housing and student flats.

The Territorial Army would move its operations to a new site in the county, possibly Dalton Barracks, in Abingdon. The regimental associations formed the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust to campaign for a county military museum.

Deputy chairman Tim May said: "This move may be good news for the Ministry of Defence and the city council, with its expectations of a substantial cash windfall, but there will be casualties.

"First, the removal of the TA and Cadets will leave the University Officer Training Corps as the sole representatives of the military.

"The second issue relates to the collections of two regiments.

"Incredibly, the Ministry of Defence has no obligation to rehouse these precious items."

The trust want to display the collections of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars (Oxford Yeomanry) and Oxford University's Officer Training Corps.

At the moment a small museum at Slade Park contains a limited collection of the Light Infantry and Yeomanry.

The collections proposed for the museum include weapons, uniforms, letters, paintings and photographs dating from the Napoleonic Wars to the present day.

The trust is negotiating with Oxfordshire County Council, in the hope that the collections can be handed over to the museums service for safe keeping if Slade Park is demolished.

The council's heritage service would also be responsible for the care of the collection at the Museums Resource Centre, in Standlake.

Mr May said: "The cost of funding this could be a further £500,000, which we have undertaken to raise.

"As the recipient of the Slade windfall, Oxford City Council is in a unique position to assist us with a significant donation. Our ultimate aim remains building a military museum for the county."

Andrew Walton, a spokesman for Defence Estates, said: "Subject to the outcome of the application, the TA centre will be relocated, along with the war memorial, to another site within Oxfordshire, possibly Dalton Barracks."

A city council spokesman said: "We are working with the Ministry of Defence regarding the proposed development of this site. We're in the early stages of the planning application at the moment and no financial arrangements have been finalised as yet."