A countryside campaign has dismissed as “ludicrous” a suggestion that the north of the county could host a major new airport.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) spoke out after the Independent on Sunday reported that an unnamed group of British businesses were looking at airport options including Banbury.

Oxfordshire CPRE director Helen Marshall said: “Heathrow airport takes up nearly five square miles.

“The idea that you could suddenly find space in Oxfordshire for an airport of this size is quite simply ludicrous.”