PRESSURE is mounting to build homes on Oxford's green belt after a Government report confirmed the city council had run out of options.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott revealed that Oxford City Council had exhausted suitable brown field sites.

The authority has been highly praised for being the best in the country for hitting government targets to build high density housing on urban sites, designed to protect green spaces. But the county structure plan requires a further 5,500 homes to be built in the city by 2016 and many people believe a more accurate assessment of need is the Oxford Housing Requirement Study that estimates 20,984 new homes will be required in the next 12 years.

Oxford City Council had planned to build at least 1,000 homes in the Green Belt, off Grenoble Road, but those plans were thwarted by Oxfordshire County Council. Now city planners believe that their record justifies trusting them to make best use of the Green Belt and are hoping the county will change its mind.

City council spokesman David Penney said: "This supports what we've been saying all along - that we have built to the limit of our boundaries and we now have to expand outside. The simple truth is that all other options have been exhausted." City council planning business manager Michael Crofton-Briggs said: "This is very relevant to the area south of Grenoble Road because our record shows that we wouldn't fritter away the land."

County council executive member for sustainable development Anne Purse congratulated the city council on its performance but refused to comment on the Grenoble Road planning dispute. She said: "The Structure Plan has now reached the public examination stage. We have made our position clear and it would be wrong to say anything that might prejudice the outcome of the examination in public."

City councillor Ed Turner, the executive board member for planning, said that it was now obvious house-building had to expand outwards. "We are still massively short of housing but these findings show we are leading the country in our endeavours," he said.

Four years ago, the Government issued guidelines to councils stipulating that no fewer than 30 new homes should be built on any hectare of land - the equivalent of 12 per acre. The latest figures show that between 1999 and 2002, new homes in Oxford have been going up at the rate of 61 homes per hectare - the highest achievement in the whole of the UK. "We are showing others how it can be done," said Mr Crofton-Briggs. It's possible to build in high numbers without causing crowding or having to resort to shoddy design." He confirmed that if the city council won the right to build on the Grenoble Road land, the plan would be for about 45 houses per hectare.

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OXFORD City Council planners say latest Government findings give weight to the council's claim that it has no option but to build on Green Belt land.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has hailed Oxford planners the best in the country for hitting Government targets that help to protect green spaces.

City council planners believe that their record justifies trusting them to make best use of Green Belt land, such as the controversial plot just south of Grenoble Road, near the Kassam Stadium. The city council is convinced its case has been strengthened by a Government report that demonstrates it makes maximum use of development sites, never wastes land and exploits all urban possibilities for housing growth.

Plans for at least 1,000 new homes in the Green Belt, off Grenoble Road, have been thwarted by Oxfordshire County Council. City council spokesman, David Penney, said: "This supports what we've been saying all along - that we have built to the limit of our boundaries and we now have to expand outside. The simple truth is that all other options have been exhausted." City council planning business manager, Michael Crofton-Briggs, said: "This is relevant to the area south of Grenoble Road because our record shows that we wouldn't fritter away the land."

The hopes are that the county council will be pressured into making a U-turn to enable houses to be built on the city's southern boundary Green Belt.

County council executive member Anne Purse congratulated the city council on its performance, but refused to comment on the Grenoble Road planning dispute. She said: "The Structure Plan has now reached the public examination stage. We have made our position clear and it would be wrong to say anything that might prejudice the outcome of the examination in public."

Four years ago the Government issued guidelines to councils stipulating that no fewer than 30 new homes should be built on any hectare of land - the equivalent of 12 per acre. The latest figures show that between 1999 and 2002, new homes in Oxford have been going up at the rate of 61 homes per hectare - the highest achievement in the whole of the UK.

The performance of the four other Oxfordshire district councils has fallen well short of the Government's expectations. The Vale of White Horse, on average, is building 26 houses per hectare, South Oxfordshire 24, West Oxfordshire 22 and Cherwell 21.

"We are showing others how it can be done," said Mr Crofton-Briggs. "It's possible to build in high numbers, without causing crowding, or having to resort to shoddy design. Housing pressures on the city are considerable, so we've had to come up with answers." He confirmed that if the city council won the right to build on the Grenoble Road area Green Belt land, the plan would be for about 45 houses a hectare.

Ten years ago the density of new homes in the city was 40, which even then was still well ahead of targets. A spokesman for West Oxfordshire said: "Our figures don't tally with those circulated." A Cherwell council spokesman was unaware of the figures. South Oxfordshire and the Vale needed time to analyse the report.

Of Cherwell, South Oxfordshire, the Vale and West Oxfordshire, Julie Stainton, of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: "These councils appear to be ignoring Government planning policy and targets which call for an end to wastefully low densities and for more land recycling."

The Grenoble Road development issue is further complicated by the city council now being "hung" and led by a minority Labour group. The Liberal Democrats - the second largest group, only two short of Labour - has no position on Green Belt development. The leader of the Liberal Democrats on the city council, John Goddard, said: "The Green Belt needs reviewing. It would be wrong to pre-judge the outcome of such a review."