Plans to turn a historic Oxford pub into a 130-seater restaurant threaten to destroy centuries of tradition, critics say.

Six Continents Retail wants to transform The Perch in Binsey, west Oxford, into one of its Vintage Inn concept restaurants.

It has applied to the city council for permission to extend the kitchen, increase seating capacity, and provide 26 new car parking spaces.

The company recently gave a Vintage Inn makeover to The Trout, at Wolvercote, north Oxford, and says a £1m investment at The Perch would enhance both the thatched building and the setting.

But Binsey's ten households oppose the latest proposal.

They claim it would increase traffic four-fold along Binsey Lane and ruin an idyllic rural scene.

The Perch is owned by Christ Church, Oxford, and leased to Six Continents Retail -- formerly Bass. It has been a popular watering hole on the west bank of the Thames for 800 years, with many literary connections.

It is close to trees that inspired Gerard Manley Hopkins to write his famous poem Binsey Poplars and was frequented by Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll and television detective Inspector Morse.

Villagers held a meeting and decided to fight the restaurant plans.

Spokesman Alison Cobb, of the Binsey Village Residents' Association, criticised the plan to increase car parking in the floodplain.

She added: "We want The Perch to remain a rural pub in a country lane that is safe.

"This company is going to take away precisely what people come to Binsey for -- to have a drink in the pub garden.

"They are is going to remove the children's play area and most of the garden tables. It will be unfriendly to children and unfriendly to drinkers.

"The application says 'no measures to promote walking to The Perch are proposed'.

"The centuries-old tradition of walking out from Oxford past the Binsey poplars for a drink will be over."

The deadline for consultation is March 8.

The villagers recently succeeded in persuading Christ Church -- which owns all but one of the properties in Binsey -- to withdraw plans to demolish a barn and double the village's size by building seven new houses.

Revised housing plans, though, remain in the pipeline.

Before the pub plan can proceed, Six Continents Retail needs permission to alter a listed building in a conservation area within the green belt.

Its spokesman, Janice Clark, said feedback from customers after The Trout's makeover had been positive.

"We are now looking to spend about £1m at The Perch, completely refurbishing the building and car parking," she said. "The all-day food will be the main attraction, but people will still be able to go in just for a drink."

She said the changes would take three months to implement if and when planning permission was granted.