RESIDENTS whose plan for the future of their town was torn to shreds by a Government inspector have vowed to start again.

Volunteers spent more than a year drawing up Wantage Neighbourhood Plan, which would have outlined areas for development, are now looking at spending another year re-writing it.

Planning inspector John Parminter said six of the plan's 14 policies, aiming to create more shops, protect green spaces and limit housing growth, should be deleted because there was no evidence to support them, placing the whole document in doubt.

Failure to have a formal plan in place could make it much harder to refuse unwanted housing developments.

It is believed to be the first time in Oxfordshire that a Neighbourhood Plan has been rejected by an inspector.

The decision on whether to adopt the plan still rests with the town council but if the recommendations of the inspector are ignored it will have little impact on planning decisions.

Julie Mabberley, chairwoman of the Wantage Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group, led a group of 40 volunteers and collected feedback from more than 1,600 residents.

She said she was shocked and disappointed by the report.

She said: "We felt we had done everything and our advisors suggested the plan was suitable for submission.

"The inspector has asked for a lot more evidence on a lot of things and I'm not sure what kind of evidence he wants."

Wantage Town Council will hold a meeting at The Beacon on Wednesday, August 31, to decide which policies to abandon and which to take forward.

After that, the plan will have to go out to two more public consultations before being re-submitted for inspection.