COUNCILLORS have gone against officer advice and rejected plans for a care home on the site of a former Bicester pub.

Cherwell District Council planning committee refused approval for the 53-bed facility over concerns about parking and over-development, despite concerns that the council would face another costly appeal.

London firm Liborate wanted to demolish the Centurion Pub, in Leach Road, and replace it with the home and 12 parking spaces, including an ambulance bay and disabled place.

Its traffic survey said there were 34-on-street spaces and a car park at the nearby Clifton Centre, the Scout and St John Ambulance HQ.

But residents said their roads could become an overspill car park for care home staff and visitors.

At the Bodicote House meeting, district councillor Debbie Pickford backed residents, saying the home must provide more parking and traffic surveys should have been done at peak time in the evening.

Cherwell leader Barry Wood said the council was “dancing on thin ice” in terms of losing at appeal, but residents concerns “carried sufficient weight”.

Tony Kirby, a traffic expert for Liborate, said he had been involved in other care home projects and the generated “low levels of traffic”.

Carol Allen, of Ashdene Road, said: “We know there is a long way to go, and obviously they will prepare something and come back to the drawing board”