The councils' initial reaction to the document, which both still need to consider in detail, is one of disappointment that Weston Otmoor is still a potential location. The councils will continue to campaign for the Weston Otmoor proposal to be rejected.

The Weston site received a relatively low rating in a Draft Sustainability Appraisal that judged the eco-credentials of each of the eco-town sites that have been proposed across the country. Cherwell District Council and Oxfordshire County Council have campaigned to have the eco-credentials of this site fully assessed since the plans were first unveiled.

Cherwell District Council lobbied the Government to assess an alternative site to Weston Otmoor for an eco community in the area. The suggested site, at North West Bicester, links to the Council's current consultation on the Local Development Framework.

Leader of the Cherwell District Council, Councillor Barry Wood, said:

'We have been clear from the moment Weston Otmoor appeared on the Government's Eco Town longlist that this proposal is not acceptable. It has been dreamt up completely separately from all our thinking on how to accommodate housing growth in the District and separately from our ambitions for Bicester. Weston Otmoor threatens the future prosperity of Bicester and we cannot support it.

"We have suggested we explore the possibility of making the future growth of Bicester eco-friendly and this is the thinking behind our suggested North West Bicester option. This concept received a higher sustainability rating than the Weston Otmoor site which is a good start, but it is at an extremely early stage of development.. However we need to do a lot more work on options for expansion of Bicester and we must also consider the implications of an eco community development there for overall levels of housing growth in Cherwell. The choices involved must be properly evaluated through all our normal planning processes'.

Councillor Keith Mitchell, the Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: "It is good news that the eco-credentials of Weston Otmoor have been found wanting, as we always thought they would be. However it is bad news that Weston Otmoor still seems to be considered as an option in Government circles. It is to be hoped that this latest report at least means that it is considered to be far less of an option.

"We will now have to study this report in fine detail as well as considering the transport and other implications of Cherwell District Council's proposal for alternative development north west of Bicester."