A £60m development which is set to transform the area opposite Didcot Parkway station was unanimously approved tonight after 30 minutes of debate.

The plans drawn up by South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) and the Communities Agency last June will see a 70-bedroom hotel, a gym, up to 300 homes and a pub built in Station Road as part of the 'Gateway' project.

Other developments include a replacement office building for Soha Housing and a replacement building for Lydalls Nursery alongside a multi-storey car park next to the station. 

The plans were first unveiled to the public in January last year during a consultation at the Cornerstone Arts Centre, with SODC leader John Cotton saying the development would "create a better link with the town centre."

But residents have previously said they fear the demolition of the Princes of Wales pub through the development would be a great loss.

Didcot resident, Penny Dakin Kiley, said: "We want to see the site improved but not in a way that destroys existing community facilities and replaces them with high-rise blocks.

"There is a strong feeling that demolishing the princes of Wales pub would be a huge loss and that any new development should reflect Didcot's heritage as a railway town."