PLANS for a massive distribution centre rumoured to be for Amazon are a step closer.

Firms planning the 100,000sq ft scheme in Sutton Courtenay have been told they will not need to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

Now the Diageo Pension Trust which owns the site and estate agents at Savills can forge ahead with finalising their plans.

The firms are planning to build two buildings, one of about 60,000sq ft and one of about 40,000sq ft, with parking for more than 300 cars and 80 HGVs.

The companies already won planning permission for a single, 324,00sq ft warehouse, but have now changed their plans to focus on several smaller developments.

Sutton Courtenay Parish Council chairman Mike Jenkins said he and others in the village would much rather the site were green fields.

He said the council's main concern about the size of the buildings and the effect of traffic on already-congested village roads.

He said: "If anyone like Amazon wanted to take it up I would think they were stupid because of the roads.

"Lorries would be coming from the A34 to that distribution centre, but between 8am and 9am you can't move for cars in this village.

"The traffic is already more than is sustainable in the long-term, and any development – whether it's housing or business – would add to that."

He added: "The old warehouse plan was one of the largest in southern England of its type but no one wanted to use it, or it would have been built by now."

Mr Jenkins said the site was originally owned by the Ministry of Defence, and has had small commercial buildings on it for years.

Plans for a warehousing first aired more than five years ago and Mr Jenkins said: "We always thought it would be a white van enterprise such as Amazon."

Recently agents of the developers have been holding regular meetings with parish councillors and they are trying to be realistic about what demands they can make.

Mr Jenkins said: "Everyone in the village would expect the parish council to resist it but we have to be realistic about what's already approved.

"This is an area designed for commercial development and they already have permission anyway so it's not going away.

"We can always try to improve the end product: the big concerns are that it doesn't dwarf the village that we're not going to suffer unduly because of the traffic.

"What we have to do is try to ensure there is the minimum possible impact on the village."

Members of public can see the latest plans at whitehorsedc.gov.uk using reference number P17/V3188/SCR