The final remaining building from Witney's former Early's blanket factory looks set to be demolished, soon after developers put forward plans for 160 homes on the site.

A planning application has been submitted to West Oxfordshire District Council by developers David Wilson Homes and Persimmon Homes, which have jointly bought the land, in Dark Lane, from Oxford's All Souls College for an undisclosed sum.

If permission is given, the redundant woolhouse will be pulled down and 101 houses and 59 flats built on the 7.3-acre piece of land, which borders the Marriotts Close site, the new West End Link Road, known as Woodford Way, Puck Lane and Mill Street.

The application has been submitted a month after Simons Developments put forward plans for the redevelopment of the former Marriotts Close football ground and Welch Way car park into a shopping, cinema and restaurant complex, with a multi-storey car park.

There are plans for 185 new homes at Marriotts. More than 150 flats and houses have already been built opposite the site, at Bryant Homes' Jacobs Mill development, following the demolition of the rest of the former Early's buildings three years ago.

Some residents fear the development will change the area for the worse. Anne Parry, who lives in Burford Road, said: "If Marriotts goes ahead as planned, it's going to mean housing all along the new link road and Welch Way, as well as here."

In their joint development plan, Persimmon and David Wilson Homes acknowledged that the proposed development was of "reasonably high density", but said they felt this was appropriate, because of the site's proximity to the town centre. Traditional stone would be used to blend in with the surroundings.