A PLAN for 140 extra homes in Banbury has been thrown out.

Developer Pandora Ltd had Cherwell District Council approval for 600 homes either side of Southam Road to the north of the town.

Yet it applied for another 140 on the western side and this was refused by Cherwell District Council’s planning committee on Thursday.

The area around Southam Road is allocated for housing the council’s Local Plan, which sets out where major estates with 16,000 homes will go by 2031.

Committee members acknowledged not enough homes are being built to meet a Government target to meet demand for the next five years.

But they rejected the plan on Thursday because of concerns about the impact on the area.

Lead member for planning Michael Gibbard said: “This proposal fails to maintain the area’s rural character with the result that there would have been unacceptable harm to the landscape and setting of Banbury.”

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