RESIDENTS will stage a recreation of riots which happened nearly two centuries ago to protest plans for the Oxford Cambridge Expressway.

People living around Otmoor between Oxford and Bicester will recreate the Otmoor Riots this Sunday.

The group have sounded a call to arms for people to join the march to 'resist the destruction of Oxfordshire's countryside'.

In 1830, residents around the Otmoor area broke down its fences after desperate agricultural labourers saw their sources of income disappear as the wetland was dried.

Organisers of the march say they will be 'embracing the spirit of the 1830 Otmoor Riots' and reaffirming residents' rights to enjoy the landscapes, wildlife and villages of north Oxfordshire.

Protesters describe the area as a 'unique rural jewel' in the county and one of the last remaining wetlands of southern England.

All that is threatened, they say, by two of the three possible routes, or corridors, being proposed by Highways England for the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway road.

Protester Gail Sawyer said: "This peaceful protest has been organised by a group in Horton-cum-Studley, one of the Otmoor villages, to raise awareness of the need to protect the green spaces of Oxfordshire.

"Its focus is Otmoor, but the walk will celebrate all the endangered countryside along each of the three proposed corridors."

The group say the two of the three recently announced corridors for the proposed expressway threaten the integrity of the Otmoor wetland landscape, including the notional boundaries of the moor and its bird reserve.

Ms Sawyer added: "Residents across all three possible corridors are enraged not just by the threat to the unspoilt countryside they love, but, above all, that there has been no public consultation about the new highway, which is one part of a huge infrastructure project including over 300,000 new houses that will double Oxfordshire’s current housing stock."

Highways England has now launched a website dedicated to the project and has said it could select a route as early as next month for the £3.5bn road.

The options would either see the road go through the south of the county, from the north of Oxford to Milton Keynes or a central route parallel to proposed East-West Railway.

The public will only be consulted once a route is chosen,

The Government wants one million homes to be built in the Oxford-to-Cambridge corridor by 2050 and has proposed the expressway along with the ongoing East-West Rail project, along the same route.

This Sunday's protest march will set off from the Horton-cum-Studley Millennium Hall at 9.30am.

The march will continue through the seven Otmoor villages – Murcott, Fencott, Charlton-on-Otmoor, Oddington, Noke, Beckley and finish back in Horton at about 6pm.

As a lunch break for the walkers, folk band Riot of Gollins will be performing their 'Otmoor Riots song cycle' at The Crown in Charlton-on-Otmoor from 1.15pm to 2pm.

For more details go to walkthemoor.net