AN MP has joined the fight against a new housing development, saying the individual identities of villages must be protected.

As a consultation closes into developer Taylor Wimpey’s proposed new 903 home site south of Great Western Park in Didcot, local MP Ed Vaizey met with campaigners in West Hagbourne.

Villagers fear the site could swallow up land between themselves and Didcot and have formed a protest group called Hands of Hagbourne Fields to fight the plans.

Following the meeting Mr Vaizey said: “This development would destroy the green buffer between West Hagbourne and an expanding Didcot.

“The individual identity of our villages is incredibly important and I have written to South Oxfordshire District Council to express my opposition to this site.”

Green fields between Didcot and the Hagbournes have been subject to a flurry of proposed developments in recent years.

Up to this point most have been rejected because they do not fit with the Government-endorsed garden town plan for Didcot which aims to keep green boundaries in place.

Civic leaders have previously pledged to protest Taylor Wimpey’s plans and hundreds of people have responded to a consultation after an planning application for the site was lodged last month.

Sue Totterdell, the spokeswoman for Hands of Hagbourne Fields, said their opposition was due to concerns about increased traffic and public services including schools and doctors’ surgeries being stretched.

The West Hagbourne resident, 69, added: “I think this land is seen as a prime spot for developers because it is easy to develop.

“But Didcot has seen so many new houses recently, it needs to be given time to catch up.

“It does not have enough schools or medical facilities as it is and it needs a respite.

“We understand the houses have to go somewhere and we accept a sensible number of new homes should be built, as long as they are affordable.

“But there’s no way this area can cope with a development of this size.”

Taylor Wimpey spokeswoman Rachel Thraves said the development would provide homes for young families and a 60-bed retirement home.

She added that concerns raised at a public exhibition last year were 'carefully listened' too and the number of proposed homes was reduced as a result.