A new nuclear power station at Oldbury is looking increasingly likely after companies came forward to snap up land around the site.

Those living near the site have been told German-owned E.on, which has publicly stated an interest in having a £4-billion nuclear plant in South Gloucestershire, has already been buying up pieces of privately owned land around the station.

Now it is set to be one of the firs bidding to acquire land currently in the hands of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and which is due to be sold next year.

The Government has already made it clear that it sees nuclear power as a vital part of its energy policy for the next decade and rival power firm EDF has said it wants to build a new nuclear plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

A meeting of the Oldbury power station and Berkeley nuclear licensed site joint stakeholder group was told this week there had been "numerous expressions of interest" on the land and other NDA property being sold.

David Atkinson, of the NDA, said the authority had "reason to believe" there would be a new power station at Oldbury - nuclear or non-nuclear - in the future.

But the existing licensed site, where the plant is still operating and could continue to do so for a further two years if inspectors allow it, will be excluded from the sale, meaning a new power station would have to be build on an adjoining site.

Mr Atkinson said: "We are not allowed to dispose of radiologically contaminated land, so the existing licensed site is excluded from the current sale."

What is included is a large part of the land surrounding the station and a reservoir in the Severn.

With E.on building up land ownership in the area, local people are concerned the community of Shepperdine may be destroyed.

South Gloucestershire councillor Matthew Riddle said: "Local people want transparency from E.on. There is speculation over what Shepperdine will look like in a few years."

Malcolm Lynden, who chaired the meeting and lives in Oldbury, said: "Oldbury-on-Severn Parish Council will be calling a meeting for residents once we know there are some concrete proposals from E.on or whoever buys the land from the NDA. We mustn't assume there will 100 per cent be something on that site."

E.ON has said its interest in Oldbury is only preliminary. It wants to build two nuclear stations in Britain, and Oldbury was just one site it was investigating.

The American-Japanese consortium of Toshiba-Westinghouse is also developing its own scheme for the South Gloucestershire location.

But any plans might have to be delayed by a few years if the Oldbury station gets permission to carry on generating, which is looking more likely as inspectors complete their examination of the site.

The plant had been due to stop generating electricity in just seven weeks but is on the verge of remaining in operation until 2010.

Joe Lamonby, the Oldbury site director, said: "It is not in the bag yet. The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) are considering our overall safety case for the site but it's looking very promising."

The change in the closure timetable is down to the requirement to defuel the plant being put back to 2011. Mr Lamonby said it still had fuel available that would allow it to operate for two more years. But part of the case for continuing involves proving the safety of the graphite core of both the reactors on site.

Reactor one is still closed down for checks. Reactor two had had a similar inspection before it was re-started in 2007. Mr Lamonby said: "During this work on the two reactors, more than 30,000 graphite bricks were inspected, with no defects found."