OXFORD University has said it will change the look of the Castle Mill student flats.

The decision – made by senior figures on Monday – comes after its “parliament”

threw out proposals to reduce the Roger Dudman Way blocks in height.

Critics said they blighted views of Oxford’s historic skyline and demanded the top floor be removed from six of the eight buildings.

It was one of three options put forward to the university in an assessment of how to reduce their impact on the landscape.

Our top stories

But the university said the £30m cost was too expensive and this month dons voted against the move.

Yesterday, university spokesman Matt Pickles said plans for its preferred option would now be put forward to Oxford City Council. This would involve a change of the colour, texture and cladding of the flats, and tree screening, at a cost of £6m.

The measures has been dismissed by campaigners as “a paint-job and a few bushes”, but the university has appealed for comments from the public.

Mr Pickles said: “We will bring forward our proposal for mitigation which will go through the usual process of public consultation, followed by a vote by city councillors.

“The consultation with the local community will be wide-ranging, we really want feedback and suggestions about how to soften the appearance of the buildings.

“A number of innovative and creative ideas were proposed during the recent debate and we hope to hear and discuss many more of these with the local communities in Oxford.”

But the university would not submit its plans until it had dealt with queries raised about the plans by the city council, he added.

The local authority challenged it to justify the refusal to remove a floor from the Roger Dudman Way buildings and said it had yet to explore other options properly.