WEST Oxfordshire District Council has opposed plans to increase gravel extraction in the area.

Oxfordshire County Council wants to extract 1.2 million tonnes of gravel a year across Oxfordshire, with the majority from West Oxfordshire.

Work would continue at existing sites in the lower Windrush Valley, around Eynsham, Cassington and Yarnton.

The district council pressed for quarries in South Oxfordshire to take more of the weight of extraction, saying they were closer to the main area of demand.

The council cabinet voted unanimously in favour of the proposal and the motion will now go to full council next Wednesday for ratification.

In an emotional speech during the meeting, Eynsham resident John Dowling said: “In the lottery of life, we drew the winning ticket because we live in West Oxfordshire.

“The cost of submitting to these extravagant claims for gravel is so high.”

He said the extraction plan was in danger of destroying the district’s “lovely” countryside.

Councillor Mark Booty said Mr Dowling was “preaching to the converted”.

Meanwhile campaigners have stepped up their fight to prevent gravel extraction between Cholsey and Wallingford by claiming the selection of the site could be flawed.

Communities Against Gravel Extraction (CAGE) group lawyer Adrian Hatt, of Wallingford-based law firm Hedges, has submitted a four-point objection, claiming the draft proposals are either “legally or procedurally flawed”.