Landowners who want to develop 1,000 homes, a hospital, schools and leisure facilities near Bicester have spent £2,500 on leaflets to argue their case.

Farming company A G Woodley Ltd is the owner of Whitelands Farm, between Bicester and Chesterton, where more than 220 acres of land would become the site for the buildings.

A new Bicester Community Hospital, a further education college, schools and leisure amenities form an important part of the dev- elopment.

By circulating the 10,000 leaflets, A G Woodley has entered a war of words which has raged for two years over whether the development should be built on their land, known as the south-west option, or on the northern/RAF Bicester airfield option.

After several debates Cherwell district councillors finally voted in September for the airfield.

Dudley Carpenter, managing director of A G Woodley, said: "Councillors made their decision for the airfield by only a small majority. Cherwell and Oxfordshire County Council planning officers and the Highways Agency recommended the development should go to the south-west."

He said one purpose of the leaflet was to encourage more people to write to Cherwell if they supported the south-west option.

Residents of Chesterton have opposed the south-west option ever since plans were published. They claim it would bring Bicester too close to the village.

Lorna James, Chesterton Parish Council vice-chairman, said: "The leaflet is very misleading. It includes a country park and community woodland between the development and the village, which was never part of the original proposal for the south-west.

"I think to include the park is a tactic to sell the south-west," she added.