THE Earth Trust is hoping to begin work on a £5m revamp of its South Oxfordshire centre this summer.

The environmental education charity told South Oxfordshire District Council that is plans to demolish a scout hut, start removing trees and begin archaeological work soon at its base in Little Wittenham.

Time is of the essence as the archaeology cannot be done in the winter.

In a submission to the council planning team this month, senior project manager Rob Knight wrote: "The reason for needing to progress these elements this year is to avoid undue delay in the overall programme, that is, if we miss the summer/ autumn slot for the archaeological mitigation and due to the seasonal nature of this work, we will need to wait until spring 2019 before these enabling works can be completed."

In the revamp, the trust is planning to create a new educational centre, a new cafe, increase the car parking space and build an amphitheatre and a circle of replica Iron Age roundhouses.

The charity, which receives 150,000 visitors a year, is hoping to fund the project through grants.

See the latest plans at southoxon.gov.uk using reference P18/S1995/FUL