A deal opening the way for a 500- home development in Oxpens could be just weeks away.

Oxford City Council and BRBR are ready to sign a memorandum of understanding to free up the riverside site near Oxford Ice Rink for homes, offices and possibly a hotel.

BRBR has now suspended the sale of its eight-acre site following talks with the council, which wants to transform it into a new community in the heart of the city.

The council owns the neighbouring five-acre site, which includes a coach park. The two sites are now expected to be made available as one integrated development plot.

The city council is anxious to reach a deal with BRBR – a quango created to dispose of British Rail-owned land – which is shortly to be scrapped.

The development of the site would have major implications for the redevelopment of Oxford railway station, opening the possibility of a new entrance to the station south of Botley Road.

City council leader Bob Price, said: “It is the last major site that can have a significant effect on the urban development of the city centre.

“It is vital we get it right.”