A costly planning battle looms after Oxford City Council vowed to fight controversial housing proposals for Warneford Meadow.

Councillors say they have tried to encourage talks with landowners the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, in a bid to avoid an expensive planning appeal.

But time appears to be running out, and if an appeal is needed it could cost the public purse more than £200,000.

The council had deferred the application, for student and key worker accommodation on the Headington site, to allow further discussions between planners and the trust.

But with an appeal looming it has now ruled that it would have refused the plans.

Councillors were worried several different plans for the site, which were not mutually exclusive, had been submitted which breached city planning policies.

The council's deputy leader David Rundle said the authority was ready to fight an appeal.

He said: "The reasons are around the fact the proposal did not reflect what is in the local plan."

The trust says it wants to build on the land to raise millions of pounds to improve services.

Plans it wants to fund include a new Highfield Adolescent Unit and upgrading two wards for adults.

Its plans for a student village have also met fierce opposition from residents.

The Friends of Warneford Meadow have lodged an application to have the area officially designated as a town green.

They hope to convince a planning inspector that the land has been a local recreation spot for more than two decades. The hearing is set for October.

The health trust declined to comment on the appeal at this stage.