BICESTER could be turned into a "warehouse town" rather than a Garden Town if proposals to build up to 700,000 sq feet of storage buildings are approved for land south-east of the town.

In December 2014, Bicester was awarded Garden Town status, meaning thousands of new homes and jobs will be created but with protecting the countryside at the heart of the developments.

But residents have complained the proposals to build new warehouses off the A41, by Wretchwick Farm, will instead cause unnecessary traffic chaos and damage local green spaces.

Behind the plans is developer Framptons, which gave a talk on its updated proposals to the town council's planning committee on Monday night.

Nearly 50 residents packed into the council's meeting room to listen and have their say on the application.

Bicester resident Pam Roberts said: "We do not need this development, we are just turning into Bicester Warehouse Town.

"The district council has allowed these applications to proceed on the pretext that Bicester needs jobs, but there are already thousands of jobs for residents.

"There is no job shortage in Oxford or in Bicester.

"I don't know how they can justify this development on a human scale."

Under the proposals the site would include warehouses, offices and space for lorry parking.

The plans for the site, named Akeman Park, were first put to Bicester Town Council at a meeting on January 18, but Framptons will be submitting a new application shortly.

Under the new plans, the size of the overall site would be reduced from 750,000 sq feet to 700,000 sq feet.

Gareth Hughes, who has lived in the town for four years, also commented on the picturesque bridlepath running alongside the site and said it should not be damaged by building warehouses.

Bicester West councillor Les Sibley told developers the reduction in the site's size was "too little".

He added: "This going to have a detrimental impact on the people who live by there, when they step out their doors they are just going to be confronted with a mound of earth.

"It will be a real burden on their lives.

"I do not think the site as well will be able to cope with these of traffic movements you are talking about."

A spokesman for Framptons said the changes to the scheme had been made following talks with planning officers at Cherwell District Council and public comments made on the council's website.

He added lorries could be in operation 24 hours a day.

The Wretchwick Farm application is the latest in a line of major applications for new warehousing in Bicester.

A decision for a 570,000 sq ft industrial park off Howes Lane was deferred by planning authority Cherwell District Council to rethink the storage and distribution plans taking up 70 per cent of the site’s employment space.

Last month nearly 50,000 sqm of warehousing was approved for land near Skimmingdish Lane, which developers say will create about 1,200 new jobs.

Initial plans show three buildings, reaching up to 16-metres in height, will be built on farmland to the edge of town.