Market towns in Oxfordshire could be in danger of losing their character, according to a new survey.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England carried out the study last year in 120 market towns and found a "creeping blandness".

The pressure group investigated Chipping Norton, Wantage, Thame and Didcot.

Some towns earned praised, such as Cirencester in Gloucestershire and Ludlow in Shropshire, but the top 20 did not include any in Oxfordshire.

The health check found many towns threatened by bland and uniform new development, as well as traffic congestion.

The survey said once-bustling town centres were now dominated by building societies, banks and estate agents and, in high streets, many stores were boarded up or had become charity shops.

Shops such as traditional butchers selling meat from nearby farms were fast disappearing.

The growth of out-of-town shopping centres was blamed for the decline of market towns, as well as the development of new housing estates on the outskirts, whose residents prefer to drive to out-of-town retail parks.

Tom Oliver, CPRE's head of rural policy, said: "Many of our market towns don't have the capacity to cope with major new development.

"Towns are also suffering badly from development which damages their individual character, is insensitively sited, or which threatens local businesses.

"Traffic and congestion in towns is rising."

The main reasons for "creeping blandness" included new buildings failing to feature local materials and shops which did not stock local produce.

Chipping Norton's mayor Jo Graves said the town, with a population of 6,000, was fighting to retain its character and she was disappointed that it was not in the top 20.

She said: "A lot of the issues the CPRE is raising are right, but we carried out a town appraisal last year and identified many of them."

One of the key concerns is through-traffic, particularly heavy lorries, passing through the heart of the town on the A44.

A campaign by communities along the road, including Chipping Norton and Woodstock, is attempting to get lorries re-routed.

The town is facing a jobs crisis as the major employer, the Parker Knoll furniture factory, in London Road, will close at the end of the year with the loss of 250 jobs. It shed 200 staff last year. Most of them now commute to Oxford, Witney and Banbury.

The CPRE report praised seven market towns for preserving their identity. None were in Oxfordshire.

Thame's markets were also praised, as were its facilities for cyclists and pedestrians.

Wantage was praised for keeping signage and other "visual clutter" to a minimum, while Didcot was found to be suffering as a result of large housing estates on the outskirts.

Helen Barnes, Thame Town Council's clerk, welcomed the findings and added that the council was conducting its own health check, which would be completed in May.

She added: "We want to develop an action plan for the next few years."