A campaigner trying to stop an old gravel pit at Radley being filled with ash from Didcot Power Station has come up with a new plan - turn it into a town green.

Jo Cartmell, of Peachcroft, Abingdon, is seeking to register Thrupp and Bullfield Lakes just days after the battle over the area seemed over when the Government refused to call a public inquiry.

Mrs Cartmell said the lakes could be registered as public open space.

Her bid follows the Trap Grounds case in Oxford, where protesters successfully fought off city council plans for housing by registering the site as a town green.

Mrs Cartmell said: "We believe that the Thrupp and Bullfield Lakes and their surrounding area meet these criteria and we have applied to Oxfordshire County Council to register this land.

"There is abundant evidence of the free use of the area for informal recreation by the people of Abingdon over the past forty years.

"I would like anyone who has used or walked around the lakes over the past 40 years as of right to get in touch with me.

"We have to make a stand. I and my family have used this area for more than 20 years.

"I am passionate about this issue. It does not matter where in the world it is but open spaces like this need protection. We have lost too many green areas in Abingdon over the years."

If it is registered, the landowners - RWE npower and Curtis Sand and Gravel- would be contacted and asked for their views.

If they objected, a public inquiry could follow.

Although a supporter of the Save Radley Lakes group, Mrs Cartmell is acting as an individual and not part of SRL.

She said: "If this application is successful, it should prevent the destruction of the Thrupp Lake. I expect, though, it could well be opposed by landowners."

RWE npower has planning permission to use Thrupp Lake to dump half-a-million-tonnes of fuel ash over the next nine years.

The company said it would then restore the lake for wildlife.

The county council confirmed it had received Mrs Cartmell's application for consideration.