PLANS to build 5,000 new homes next to a tiny rural village have been described as "outrageous" and "inappropriate" by residents.

Developer Bonnar Allan has proposed to build a new settlement on land surrounding Lower Heyford to help towards the number of new homes needed in the north of the county.

But villagers claim it would destroy their village's identity and lead to huge volumes of traffic passing near their homes.

Parish council chairman James Macnamara, who is helping to lead a campaign against the development, said: "This is a settlement of about 160 homes so putting such a big number down here is an outrageous suggestion.

"It goes against every principle of national and local planning."

In its proposal, Bonnar Allan said Lower Heyford had been chosen because its station is close to the Oxford-Banbury train line, and there is a large amount of land near the station which is suitable to build on.

But the new settlement would be built on land designated as a conservation area, including Upper Heyford and Lower Heyford.

The proposals also feature a new primary and secondary school, shops, a petrol station, as well as leisure and healthcare facilities.

There would also be land provided for new offices, research and development, and engineering workshops that the developer said would create jobs.

Mr Macnamara, who has lived in the village for more than 20 years, said: "It is a huge new settlement in the open countryside, and any new development must preserve the conservation area.

"This scheme is focused on meeting Oxford's unmet housing need, and for us living in a small village there will huge amounts of traffic."

He added the parish council would look to set up a sub-committee that would be responsible for discussing the proposals.

Retired accountant Bruce Eggeling, who moved to the village five years ago, said: "About 95 per cent of the other residents in the village moved here as it is a rural village far away from vast numbers of cars, and all that will be completely lost.

"This proposal will radically alter where it is we live and how we live."

Nigel Rankine, from Bonnar Allan, said: "We are not proposing anything that will specifically change the village as it exists now, there will be no new homes that will intrude upon the village.

"We are not asking to do anything that disadvantages the people in Lower Heyford and we want people in the village to contribute to develop the scheme so it is as good as it can be."

He added the developer would be consulting with traffic advisors to be able to provide more details on the proposals later in the year.

The proposal is at an early stage, after the developers expressed an interest to Cherwell District Council to build on the land, which is owned by Oxford's Corpus Christi college.