OXFORD University’s “parliament” last night rejected a bid to reduce the height of the Castle Mill student flats.

In a landmark gathering at the Sheldonian Theatre, hundreds of members of the Congregation voted against removing the top floor from six of the eight Roger Dudman Way buildings.

But it was also confirmed that within six days a postal vote to ballot those not present could be called by supporters, if backed by 50 members.

The motion was put forward by TV historian and Professor of the History of the Church, Diarmaid MacCulloch, and was backed by the Save Port Meadow campaign.

They said reducing the blocks in height – at an estimated cost of £30m – was the only way to reverse the impact of the buildings, which they said loom unacceptably over the city’s historic Port Meadow.

But in a blow to their efforts, the Congregation voted 210 for and 536 against the motion, after a debate lasting two-and-a-half hours.

Prof MacCulloch said: “I’m disappointed. But something very good which did come out of it was a show of some repentance from the university for what it has done.”

“No one” had spoken to defend the appearance of the student flats, Prof MacCulloch claimed.

But he would not be drawn on whether he would call for a postal vote.

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He added: “I have now got to consult with those who have been supporters of the motion within the university on whether that is the right thing to do.”

In a statement the university said: “The decisions of a Congregation vote may be challenged in a postal ballot of all its members.

“It is open to supporters of the original resolution to seek such a ballot. The university council will consider next steps on Castle Mill in due course and in the light of any postal vote.”

The Congregation is Oxford University’s parliament, made up of about 4,500 senior university figures.

Congregation’s decisions are binding on the university’s council, which is the day-to-day executive leadership and had opposed yesterday’s motion.

Prof MacCulloch put forward his motion in December, backed by a group of heavyweight university professors who said that a failure to act would inflict “serious damage” on the university’s reputation and to Oxford’s historic skyline.

The vote was one of the most anticipated in recent history, with many comparing it to when 1,057 members of the university’s governing assembly voted to refuse the then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher an honorary doctorate in 1985.

The Castle Mill motion had led university vice-chancellor Andrew Hamilton to issue a personal appeal to Congregation members. In it he said “no university, not even one as beautiful as Oxford, should put buildings before its students.”

His comments had been backed by students of the Oxford University Students Union.

Yesterday after the votes were counted, union president Louis Trup tweeted: “We have done it. Castle Mill has been saved. Well done all students who have made their voices heard.”

Oxford University was first granted planning permission to build the £24m Castle Mill student flats in 2012. They were finished in 2013.

Reducing them in height is one of three options set out in an environmental impact assessment (EIA) commissioned by the university.

The university favours the cheapest option, at a cost of £6m, to repaint the buildings and put up some trees to screen it.

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