A BELOVED green field used for dog walks, ball games and horse rides will be destroyed if a new estate is built, neighbours have warned.

Residents of Charlton Heights in Wantage have launched a campaign to fight plans to build 81 homes on land known locally as Tom's Field.

They say the five-and-a-half acres is the "last green field" between them and the new 1,500-home Crab Hill estate planned for fields surrounding Charlton.

Camilla Romaine, who lives a stone's throw from the field in Charlton Village Road with her husband Rob Collyer said: "Tom's Field is really well-loved.

"People go up there every day for dog walks and ball games and it's home to wildlife like bats, owls and deer.

"It's also a buffer zone between the Charlton conservation area and the new estate.

"We think this is really important because Charlton has a rural village feel but these new homes are all quite high-density."

Mrs Romaine and her husband hosted a first campaign meeting at their house on Friday night and more than 30 locals helped draw up a list of concerns and an action plan.

Another Charlton Village Road resident, Nick Page, said he was "dismayed" that access to some of the new estate was being proposed from Charlton Village Road.

He went on: "There are obviously many other concerns for local residents from the suggested plans such as the loss of wildlife habitats and a recreational facility used by the local and wider community.

"It seems that we lost out to the Crab Hill development, so now feels like it's happening all over again.

"The scale of these developments will change the character of the town: development of greenfield spaces cannot be reversed."

The campaigners are now appealing for all residents to submit their comments to the online planning application.

The Wantage and Grove Campaign Group for Sustainable Development also urged locals to have their say.

Campaign manager Julie Mabberley criticised the principle of the development, saying permission had been granted for 1,500 homes in the Crab Hill estate land – not 1,581.

The planning application for Tom's Field has been submitted by Kemp and Kemp of Abingdon on behalf of the executors of the Stanley Thomas Pinnel Estate.

The firm said it wanted to "provide a distinctive and high-quality development that enhances the north end of the Charlton Village and links with the proposed Crab Hill development".

Designers also said they wanted to create "a well-considered and sensitive development that relates to the wider context of Charlton Village".

Residents can see the plans online at whitehorsedc.gov.uk using reference number P16/V1983/O and comment until September 7.

The Vale is aiming to make a final decision on the scheme by November 10.