A 25-YEAR saga over the future of a former Blackbird Leys petrol station looks to have ended.

The Greyhound Filling Station in Sandy Lane filled its last tank about a quarter of a century ago and since then the site has lain dormant despite a string of attempts to redevelop the land.

But Oxford City Council this week approved plans for six homes on the site.

Chairman of the newly formed area planning east committee, Roy Darke, said it was an appropriate use for the site. But the estate’s parish council branded it “overdevelopment”.

Mr Darke added: “It is providing six housing units that are very much needed in the city, and we felt it was in character with the area.”

Any contamination on the site relating to its former use as a filling station would have to be dealt with first, he said.

The proposed development comprises four three-bedroom homes and two two-bed properties.

Ten car parking spaces would also be created, along with space for bikes and a bin store.

It had been recommended for approval by the council’s planning officers. Previous plans for the land, stretching back to the 1980s, have included a car wash, which was approved, and building a tyre and exhaust centre which was refused but later allowed on appeal.

Plans for a block of flats have been refused in recent years.

No representations from residents were received by the city council over the latest plan.

But Blackbird Leys Parish Council objected on the grounds it was overdevelopment.

Members felt the site was not big enough to cope with the number of homes proposed and warned it would lead to parking problems in Sandy Lane.

Council chairman Gordon Roper said residents wanted a small deve-lopment of houses on the waste ground.

He said: “There have been applications for tyre replacement centres but residents opposite kicked off because of the noise and the traffic .

“People want the site cleared so it is tidy. Houses yes, but in the right way.”