Housing could be built on the site of an army barracks.

South Oxfordshire District Council's cabinet approved a blueprint for 300 homes on the Vauxhall Barracks site in Didcot.

The military is pulling out and the Ministry of Defence is planning to sell off the 22-acre site for housing.

Until the barracks were fenced off behind a high security fence because of the IRA bombing campaign in the 1980s, people shared the use of the sportsfield with the army.

And people want to see the field retained and available for their use again.

District councillor Sara Davidson and families living around the sportsfield including The Oval and Mendip Heights said the sportsfield was ideal for children as it was overlooked on three sides by housing.

She said: "The fear of 'stranger danger' is among the reasons why parents do not allow their children to use distant playing fields."

John Cotton, cabinet member for planning, said the plans included open spaces - and would see the retention of an existing rose garden and tennis courts.

He said the sportsfield would only be developed if an alternative site for sports pitches was provided at the Didcot west development.

Following cabinet approval, the Vauxhall Barracks development brief, is now expected to be adopted by the full council.