Southfield golf course in Oxford has been earmarked by planners as a prime location for up to 1,300 new homes.

The privately-owned East Oxford course has been identified as one of the most sustainable sites in the city and has excited house builders, because of its development potential.

The course - which lies in an "environmentally sensitive location" and is classed as protected open space - is one of four locations that could accommodate more than 3,000 new homes after 2016, to ease Oxford's continuing housing crisis.

Other sites at Summertown, Barton and Pear Tree have been included in a city council document released this week.

But last night, Southfield Golf Club secretary Michael Blight said he was alarmed about the proposals.

He said: "It's of great concern, not just to me, but all of the residents of Oxford who play here. This isn't an exclusive club. We're a community amateur sports club, open to all - we have BMW, hospital and city council employees who are all members.

"We're a very well-established and renowned golf course and a green lung in the city. I don't think they would be too happy to lose out. If they can identify this, why not South Park, Florence Park, or anywhere else?"

Half of the 17-hectare Summertown site in the plan is playing fields owned by Summer Fields Boys' School. Council planners say it could take 500 houses.

In Barton, 36 hectares of public space and a small area of flood plain adjoining Bayswater Brook have been identified for 1,200 homes.

Barton Community Association director Barry Holden said: "I think Barton is getting the thin end of the wedge.

"This would concern us if there was a loss of amenities like playing fields and allotments."

Earlier this month, the city's chief planning officer, Michael Crofton-Briggs, told a public inquiry into house building across the South East that the city could squeeze in 10,000 new homes by 2026, with 7,150 built on already-identified sites, and the rest coming from "windfall locations".

He said: "What we have got here for the city is a piece of work in progress.

"We're simply asking people to say what they think.

"Is now the right time to say there should be development on these pieces of land, and if it is what are the uses that should go there?"

Summertown city councillor Jean Fooks said: "Pear Tree is a non-starter for houses, it's simply not suitable."