THE High Court has dealt another blow to attempts to build 210 homes at Crowmarsh Gifford.

Developers JS Bloor (Northampton) and Hallam Land Management challenged a planning inspector’s decision to refuse planning permission for the development off Benson Lane, which would have doubled the size of the village.

They asked Judge McKenna to order the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, John Denham, to reconsider the planning application, so they could build the homes, 84 of which would have been affordable.

The developers, who argued planning inspector Edward Grace failed to fully address whether the proposed houses complied with the area’s Development Plan, said affordable housing was urgently needed in the area and other housing sites were not being developed.

But Judge McKenna rejected the challenge in London last week, saying it was “inherently artificial and misconceived”, and had ignored parts of Mr Grace’s reasoning for his decision.

Nick Robbins of Crowmarsh Residents’ Action Group, said: “It is very welcome news for the village.

“We presume that is the end of the line now. There is nowhere else for Bloor and Hallam to go. They have run the full course of the planning process and come to the end.”

But Mr Robbins said villagers were still worried about plans for a smaller development being put forward, or the site being listed for houses by South Oxfordshire District Council.