CONTROVERSIAL warehouse plans that developers say would create 1,000 jobs should be approved tonight, a council report says.

The scheme for six warehouses by junction 11 of the M40 would bring “significant” economic benefits, according to Cherwell District Council officers.

The report has been given to the council’s planning committee, which will tonight be asked to make a decision.

Critics say the Overthorpe Road plan would generate too much traffic, remove First World War relics and only bring “unskilled” jobs.

Banbury Town Council said the town needed a “more diverse mix of jobs”, and does not have the roads to cope.

The site is not in the council’s long-term plan of where major business developments should go.

But the report says: “The proposal would secure a considerable number of jobs for Banbury which would assist with complementing the current employment sector.”

It said there was “strong market” demand for storage and distribution space in Banbury, and jobs have “become more sophisticated”.

The development – on the road to Overthorpe, Warkworth and Kings Sutton – will take up a “significant amount” of road capacity, it said. But Oxfordshire County Council road bosses have said this is not enough to support refusal.

Some £30,000 would be provided by the developer for traffic calming in Overthorpe, while land needed for a long-mooted relief road around the east of Banbury would be protected until 2035. But the district council report said the removal of mature oak trees before the plan was submitted was “extremely regrettable”.

Banbury Civic Society also criticised the removal of trees and the remains of First World War munition filling stations.

It got English Heritage to study whether the remains should get legal protection – but the report says they are “not of sufficient national importance”.

Part of the site and further remains lie on the other side of the M40, in Northamptonshire, and was approved for warehouses by South Northamptonshire Council last week.

It said it would not take enforcement action over the removal of remains on its side as they had not been given legal protection by ministers.

But Civic Society chairman Rob Kinchin-Smith said it was “premature” for councils to be making decisions now.

He said: “It surprises me they are rushing through with this.

“We are also concerned about the general scale of the development. This is a massive chunk of land with some very large sheds.”