Villagers anxious to protect their community from development and promote its history are forming a conservation society.

Many people living in Weston-on-the-Green are critical of the way Cherwell District Council has handled their conservation area.

Despite repeated requests the council has refused to include what many claim is an ancient 20-acre village green beside the B430.

Villagers lost their latest appeal against the decision last week when councillors at Cherwell's development committee voted 16-1 not to revise the conservation area.

One of the society instigators, Norman Machin, said: "Many villagers are up in arms over the way the green has been handled.

"In a parish council by-election Peter Hicks was elected on a conservation ticket. There is anxiety over the green because there are a lot of pressures for development there, with a planning application for housing having just gone in to Cherwell."