CONTROVERSIAL plans for 65 homes in Adderbury have been thrown out, following an appeal by a developer.

Cherwell District Council rejected the plan for a field off Milton Road last year.

It warned of a lack of services and said the homes would “cause harm to the character and appearance of the countryside”.

Berkeley Homes appealed to the independent Planning Inspectorate but has now lost the case.

The inspectorate said the council’s inability to meet Government housing targets “weighs strongly” for allowing the homes.

It also applauded Berkeley’s plan to make 40 per cent of the homes affordable to meet housing shortages.

Despite a lack of services, such as a doctors and shops, the homes would be close to Banbury by bus, it said.

Proposals to send children to Bloxham Primary School if Adderbury’s Christopher Rawlins Primary is full are not unusual, it added.

But it said the site is not in the council’s plans for where major housing developments should go and it is “not obvious” how 65 homes could go on the field along with drainage and a planned football field.

More than 200 villagers opposed the plan when it was considered by the council, with Adderbury Parish Council branding it “excessive”.