Villagers' victory over floodlights

Residents were worried about light pollution from floodlights

Residents of two Oxfordshire villages are celebrating after plans to develop a nearby airfield were thrown out by a public inquiry.

Campaigners in Finmere and Tingewick, near Bicester, had claimed proposals to store 6,500 cars on the site would have increased traffic and light pollution.

They were particularly worried about 33-feet high security lighting towers designed to surround the site.

The plans were finally rejected, after a lengthy public inquiry agreed with their concerns about traffic and light pollution.

The proposals were originally put forward in August 2002, and rejected six months later by Aylesbury Vale District Council.

After a successful appeal by Mainland Car Deliveries, the company behind the plans, it then went to a public inquiry.