D-DAY for Oxford's most controversial car park has been pushed back yet again in the face of environmental concerns, including fears for the wellbeing of badgers.

The decision on whether Seacourt Park and Ride can be expanded is now not expected to be made until June or July.

The Oxford City Council planning meeting originally pencilled in for March is now being delayed as Environment Agency offers more and more advice on the £4m plans.

The council's head of planning, Alex Hollingsworth, admitted if the objections were good enough they could derail the controversial scheme entirely.

He said: "We've never said that we are 100 per cent tied to the scheme.

"We keep the financial model constantly under review because, as with any large construction project, the estimated cost goes up and down.

"The planning process has to take into account all the view of the objectors and those in favour and the planning committee will have to weigh up all the different points."

More than 1,240 people have now signed a petition against the plans started by Oxfordshire Badger Group, which believes badgers live on the fields behind Botley Road next to Seacourt where the car park is due to be expanded.

Mr Hollingsworth said he was sure badgers were one of the issues still being examined by the Environment Agency but also stressed that the planning committee would not judge objections based on the number of people making the same point, but on the weight of each point in planning law.

He said that the objection from Oxford Flood Alliance, that there was not enough evidence to guarantee the project would not worsen flooding in the area, would be taken 'extremely seriously'.

He also said the Environment Agency's ever-evolving plans to dig a £120 flood alleviation channel around the city, starting near to Seacourt Park and Ride, would have a major impact.

Julia Hammett of Oxfordshire Badger Group said the case for the park and ride extension was looking 'weaker by the minute'.

Oxford City Council's environment team submitted a planning application to its own planning department in October to expand Seacourt Park and Ride by building 650 new spaces on a green field next door to it.

The council says the site is running at capacity and needs to be ready when 2,000 extra journeys are made into the city along Botley Road when the new Westgate Shopping Centre opens in November this year.

The council said it looked at 118 possible sites for a new car park and deemed all but Seacourt unsuitable.