Residents are uniting to fight plans for a major road they claim will destroy the peace of their Wantage estate.

The proposed road is meant to ease traffic congestion expected when 2,500 new houses are built at Grove airfield.

The road's likely route is around the north east side of Wantage, taking traffic away from the town centre over agricultural land behind houses in Charlton Heights and Charlton Village, along the ridge of Crab Hill, to the A417 to Didcot and on to the A34.

Objections to the road, part of the latest amendments to the Vale of the White Horse District Council local plan, have to be in by today as part of the second stage of consultation.

Hundreds of leaflets printed by residents have gone out across Wantage alerting people to possible problems the road could create.

Residents claim district planners have failed to highlight the impact it could have on Wantage and Grove.

Douglas Lamont, of Westfield Way, Charlton, said most residents had believed the land behind their homes could not be developed.

He said: "Practically nobody in Wantage or Charlton Village itself had any idea these plans were afoot until the penny dropped with a few of us.

"Perhaps planning officials really believe that local people carry copies of their draft local plan 2011 stuffed in their back pockets and that they understand everything it says."

He believed the road would not only bring noise and pollution but also unwanted development.

Grove resident Francis Collett,76, and his granddaughter Anita Bulpitt, 25, ride every morning through the countryside threatened by the road.

He said: "It is a place of outstanding natural beauty and very rich in wildlife.

"It breaks my heart that this road might cut directly over the hill right next to us.

"The landscape will be ruined and the land left will be filled with houses within a few years."

Residents are suggesting the redevelopment of the old Grove Railway Station and an alternative route involving the already existing Grove Park Drive.

District council deputy leader Tony de Vere said: "It's very positive that local communities are making their voices heard about the draft local plan.

"Residents and interested parties have been given advice to allow them to comment fully on the proposals and all these comments will now be considered in depth at a public enquiry."