Developers have come up with a plan which could lead to the 'eyesore' of Shipton Quarry becoming a site fit for 5,000 homes.

Kilbride Properties, which owns the redundant 168-acre former cement works between Woodstock and Bicester, wants to fill in the quarry using demolition material brought in by train from across the UK, particularly London.

The Surrey-based company would build a new rail terminal at the quarry on the Oxford to Banbury line.

If converted into a station, it could provide commuters with a fast rail link to the centre of Oxford.

It has been estimated that the site could take between 3,000 and 5,000 new homes, although no planning application for housing has been submitted.

Kilbride's new application to fill in the quarry, which will be considered by Oxfordshire County Council, is timely because a public inquiry is being held next year to discuss Oxfordshire's housing crisis.

The idea of building homes in the quarry has been mooted before, but dismissed by the county council, which wants new development concentrated in towns like Bicester and Didcot.

Colin Banyard, managing director of Kilbride Properties, said: "We promoted the quarry for housing but were turned away, which is a shame, as it seems a natural location - on a brownfield site, under nine minutes by train from the middle of Oxford.

"One of the things we can agree on is there's a substantial hole and it's an eyesore, so let's reclaim it.

"This plan brings the quarry back into productive use, creates jobs, restores the landscape and reopens the rail sidings.

"And yes, those sidings could be made available for passenger use."

Shipton Quarry, disused for 20 years, is already designated as land for commercial use in the Cherwell Local Plan.

Unusually, housebuilding there has the backing of the green lobby.

Kilbride has a seat at next year's public inquiry and will lobby for houses to be built at Shipton Quarry - with the promise of a £2m rail terminal, a £3.5m passenger station and improvements to the line.

The firm said it would also improve junctions on the nearby A4260 and A4095.

County council Green Party group leader Larry Sanders said: "While we're great defenders of the Green Belt, there are parts that are really not green and (Shipton Quarry) is one of the things we are willing to consider."

The issue of housebuilding around Oxford is con- tentious.

Last year, the Tory-run county council dismissed the idea of housebuilding in Oxford - principally on land south of Grenoble Road - and Shipton Quarry, despite the results of a County Hall questionnaire asking where people wanted to see new homes built between 2016 and 2026.

More than half the 3,000 people who replied said they wanted them around Oxford - and 300 mentioned the quarry.

Rob Dance, the county council's planning implementation manager, said: "We have received a planning application for what is described as 'a comprehensive restoration and development scheme for Shipton-on- Cherwell Quarry'. A key difficulty of this site for housing is it could be hard to create a proper community."