CAMPAIGNERS against a new park-and-ride on the southern edge of Winchester are refusing to give up despite the county council approving the scheme.

Councillors, by 13 votes to none, yesterday supported the planning application for a 864-space car park on Itchen Farm, next to junction 11 of the M3.

The scheme has won public support except for villagers in Twyford.

Sir Christopher Bellamy, representing Twyford Parish Council and the village residents' association, told councillors: "This is the finest beech avenue in southern England. If you put 800 cars in front of it, it is hard not to say the landscape is seriously prejudiced. The only solution is a proper public inquiry."

After the meeting, Sir Christopher said the Secretary of State would have to call in the scheme because the county council was giving permission to itself and breaking its own Hampshire Structure Plan which earmarked a park-and-ride for nearby Bushfield Camp. He said villagers would be calling for a public inquiry.

The council acknowledged the departure from the plan but said the scheme still complied in general terms.

The new site will serve major employers, including the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, university, Hampshire police and the prison.