CAMPAIGNERS and council officials have agreed to spend hundreds of pounds to discover what was said at a High Court hearing they both attended.

Oxford City Council has been unable to agree with the Save Port Meadow campaign on what High Court judge Clive Lewis said when he threw out a judicial review bid over the controversial Castle Mill buildings in October.

As a result they have decided to split the costs of buying the court transcript – around £900 – three ways with Oxford University so they can decide what Mr Justice Lewis actually ruled.

Helen Marshall, director of the Oxfordshire branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England which has paid the campaign’s part of the costs, said: “This is about what is on the table and what the city council and the university are prepared to consider as part of the environmental impact assessment.”

Campaigners are locked in talks with the city council over an independent review into the planning process behind Oxford University’s Castle Mill student accommodation blocks. They claim the buildings are too high and block off views from the historic Port Meadow.

In October Mr Justice Lewis threw out the campaigners’ judicial review bid on the basis it would be “unnecessary” because the council and university have already volunteered to complete an environmental assessment.

City council spokesman Louisa Dean said: “We confirmed that we would pay our share of the transcript, £245.28, on November 15. This was requested by the west area planning committee.”

She did not comment further on the issue.