GRASS verges across Oxfordshire could be handed to homeowners if a resident wins a planning battle next week, Kidlington residents have warned.

A property-owner is trying to invoke a little-known piece of planning law to secure ownership of a 260-square metre verge on the corner of High Street and Exeter Road.

The land is currently part of the public highway maintained by Oxfordshire County Council and was left as an area of public amenity when Exeter Road was built in the 1930s.

But Mark Hardy, the landlord of the house next to it, has applied for a “stopping up order” to remove public rights of way from the land and pass ownership to him.

It is unclear who owns the land and the Planning Inspectorate will hold a public inquiry on Tuesday to decide whether to remove highway status from the verge.

It is feared this could see Mr Hardy try to build on it.

The obscure piece of planning law is most often used to close unused footpaths crossing private property, but villagers say fencing off the verge will ruin the character of the area.

Retired business consultant Jeff Lyes, who lives opposite the site, said: “If he wins, it is perfectly clear that they will have paved the way for anyone whose property is adjacent to a highway with a substantial verge to make similar claims. That right has always been there, but there has not been an inquiry of this sort in Oxfordshire for at least eight years.”

He said dozens of residents were planning to attend the 10am inquiry, being held at Stratfield Brake Sports and Recreation Ground near the village.

Mr Lyes, below, said: “A lot of people are quite upset about the whole thing.

“If he wins the public inquiry, there would be nothing stopping him from trying to develop on the land.”

In a formal objection to the order, Kidlington Parish Council accused Mr Hardy of “repeated attempts to incorporate or exploit this verge for personal use”.

Parish councillor Maurice White, who will speak at the inquiry, said: “We do not want any precedent, but unfortunately that possibility is not something we can bring up at the inquiry.”

Mr Hardy’s solicitor, Jim Astle, refused to comment on the application ahead of Tuesday’s public inquiry.

He said: “Mr Hardy will make his case to the inspector and it will be up to the inspector to determine it.”

The inquiry was called following objections to Mr Hardy’s application.