An Abingdon pub landlord said the town needed an imaginative development to provide another reason to remain in or visit the town.

Robin Nevill, landlord of the Broad Face pub in Abingdon, said: "I would like to see more affordable homes and quotas imposed on developers to ensure a balance of housing -- not just luxury apartments or commuter homes -- encouragement of shared ownership schemes and development of housing association properties and council-owned properties. "

Mr Nevill said there was very little "special" about Abingdon other than its location.

He would like to see an imaginative development of the Old Gaol to provide another reason to remain in or visit Abingdon.

He also wants an active promotion of tourism and a reprieve for the tourist information centre to stimulate the local economy.

He added: "Town centre retail regeneration needs to continue and to be allowed to develop to a stage that makes it unnecessary to travel to Oxford and Reading to shop.

"There needs to be a concerted campaign to improve or redevelop the shopping precinct. No more expansion of retail parks and large stores like Tesco unless it would bring a genuine diversity to the retail mix."

Mr Nevill believes there should be more freedom for local authorities to impose local taxation directly, rather than raising tax for national government and then receiving grants.

He believes there should be additional funding for policing to enable low tolerance of antisocial behaviour with a focus on taking back town centres after dark.