������̳

A planned new marina on the River Thames in Oxfordshire has been rejected by councillors.

Aggregate suppliers London Rock wanted to use the site at White Cross Farm in Cholsey for a 280-berth marina and extract 550,000 tonnes of minerals.

Oxfordshire County Council councillors agreed with officers that there would be no demand for the new moorings.

The stretch of the Thames is regularly used by Oxford University rowers, who were also opposed to the project.

Cholsey's county councillor Mark Gray said "absolutely massive opposition" existed to the project locally.

London Rock's agent Simon Rees said the facility would have reduced the demand on other riverside moorings along the Thames.

The company had proposed that 80% of the moorings would have been for permanent berths.

But councillors agreed with officers that the development was not "well-designed" and would have meant a "discordant" change to the landscape.

Oxford University's Rowing Club and Oxford Brookes University Rowing said they use the stretch of the river at peak times and would have been concerned about safety if the marina went ahead.