EXPERTS at the Environment Agency have opposed a controversial plan to build a colossal quarry.

The public body has objected to a planning application for Fullamoor Quarry near Clifton Hampden, after the applicant failed to appease its concerns about increased flooding.

Hills Quarry Products wants to extract two and a half million tonnes of sand and gravel from land bordering the River Thames, over a 10 year period, covering a size equivalent to 165 football pitches.

Oxfordshire County Council is currently consulting on the plan, but is not expected to make a decision until September.

In its response, the EA said Hills’s flood risk assessment ‘does not comply with requirements’, adding: “[It] does not therefore provide a suitable basis for assessment to be made of the flood risks arising from the proposed development.”

It also said the applicant’s ‘mitigation of the risks to nature conservation are inadequate’, highlighting how otters have been spotted at the site.

Campaigners at Bachport, made up of 800 people who oppose the plan, said they ‘welcomed’ the EA’s objection.

Spokesman Giles Baxter added: “The river floods regularly now. A quarry could make flooding worse.”

Miles Bennett, a spokesman for Hills, insisted the quarry will decrease the risk of flooding by increasing flood plain storage by up to 497,300 cubic metres.

The EA may retract its objection if a satisfactory assessment is submitted.

Hundreds of residents have already objected to the plans, which are available to view on the county council's website by searching for MW.0039/16.