AN Avington farmer struck "black gold", when it was discovered that beneath his land lies up to 100 million barrels of oil, Britain's biggest discovery of on-shore oil reserves in the last 20 years.

Peveril Bruce was told by Pentex Oil and that oil-bearing rock lies 5,000 feet beneath his Matterley Farm Estate near Alresford.

Hampshire County Council granted permission for an exploratory borehole at the site back in January, and the find has now been confirmed by Pentex.

But despite the oil's £200 million pricetag, Bruce has denied that he will become an overnight millionaire.

He says all he stands to make from the find is the rental for allowing the exploration company to set up a drilling rig on his land.

The rock may contain as much as 100 million barrels of oil, yet less than 10 per cent of it can be extracted, and Pentex is currently assessing the viability of doing so.

If all goes to plan with the Trade Department licence and planning permission, production could go ahead by the end of the year. Such is the volume of oil, that the operation could last as long as 10 years.

It is estimated the five lorry tankers per day will dispatch the oil to refineries from the site, which is in close proximity to the A31.

Residents of nearby villages, however, have not welcomed the news.

The area boasts numerous sites of special scientific interest, Bronze Age and Roman remains, and lies within the boundaries of the proposed South Downs National Park. Although the site lies some distance away from villages and can hardly be seen from public roads and footpaths, many residents are unhappy with what the operation could mean to the area.

Alison Matthews, chairman of the Itchen Valley Parish Council, said: "We are concerned about possible damage to the environment. The site is in the East Hampshire AONB and the proposed South Downs National Park. It is close to the South Downs Way long distance footpath.

"Moving the oil to refineries by road tankers will present a major traffic problem. This will have a profound effect on local residents, particularly those living on the A31. There have already been traffic problems arising from the large quantities of stone brought in to construct the access for the exploration stage.

"We assume that that a full planning application for the exploitation of the site will be made to HCC, and we wish to be represented at the hearing. It should be noted that the current permission for exploration was opposed by Winchester City Council.

"We can't really see any benefits at all to this area as a result of the project."

At the time of going to press, neither the Pentex press office nor Mr Bruce could be contacted.

A spokesman for Hampshire County Council, said: "If they eventually decide to proceed with the extraction operation, they will have to submit another application to the regulatory committee to allow this.

"The fact that permission has been granted for the exploratory bore hole does not mean that they will automatically get permission for the extraction operation."