NEWS that Plater College in Headington has been bought by an international language school for £5.6m has led residents to voice concerns about a new influx of students to the area.

The 267-acre campus in Pullens Lane has been acquired by EF Language Schools, the world's largest language school network, to expand its teaching operation in Oxford.

The former Catholic adult residential college is in one of Headington's most exclusive residential areas.

Residents' groups expressed disappointment that the college will see the arrival of another educational institution, which they say will accelerate the fast-changing character of Headington.

In Oxford, EF Language Schools is largely associated with the teaching of teenage foreign students. Its Oxford headquarters are in London Place and it teaches youngsters from 13 to 21.

But the company said that it intends to use Plater as a residential college for adult students.

Tony Joyce, chairman of the co-ordinating committee of Headington Residents' Associations, said: "There is already an over-concentration of students in the Headington area. An institution that is going to bring more students in can only add to these problems."

He believed that the bid by Oxford Brookes University for the site had more merit. Mr Joyce said: "It could have helped Brookes in its attempts to integrate their campus in the area more logically. It would also have helped to slightly relieve pressure on the housing market in the area.

"In Headington, we are now seeing a large number of houses being split up for students and no longer occupied by families, which is sad."

Diana Chandler, chairman of Highfield Residents' Association in Headington, said: "There is already a huge amount of residential accommodation here, particularly educational and for the NHS. There is also a lot of office building going. Headington is changing from being predominantly made up of family neighbourhoods."

She feared the language school would see more students "crammed in" than had been the case when it was a religious college.

Ms Chandler said: "A lot of people feel we are going to lose the community family feeling with plans to build on Warneford Meadow and major changes proposed at Brookes University.

"This language school is going to mean more students and people coming and going. I am sure there would be concern if this were to result in a large number of youths hanging around a language college."

EF Language Schools said it was too early to discuss its plans for Plater College or the numbers of students taught there.

The church's decision to sell the Catholic adult residential college in response to falling rolls and funding difficulties sparked strong protests from former students and staff. But it was put on the market in February.

A spokesman for the Catholic Education Service said that the church was setting up a steering committee to investigate how the money could be used to fulfil "the Plater vision". The committee will be chaired by Prof Simon Lee, Vice-chancellor of Leeds Metropolitan University. To maintain the Plater approach to education a summer school was being planned to focus on the church's social teachings.

Oxford Brookes University was among those to bid for the specious site in Pullens Lane.

There had been speculation about who had acquired the site over two months, with rumours that it had been bought by an Oxford college, or as a new home for the next Bishop of Oxford.