AN OXFORD MP has demanded that the government urgently review delays to a planned upgrade of the A34 near Abingdon.

Layla Moran, Lib Dem MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, has written to Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Transport, asking him to explain the latest lag on the proposed upgrade for Lodge Hill junction.

The MP said the latest delay in the long-awaited project was due to a lack of progress being made in the detailed assessment of the site by Highways England.

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She emphasised the importance of the upgrade going ahead 'before the thousands more homes planned for sites north of Abingdon are built'.

Ms Moran said : "I’m appalled that my constituents have had to wait so long for any action to be taken.

"Meanwhile, the Government continues to pursue the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway project, despite the continued absence of a full public consultation and local opposition. We know that some A34 improvements can’t go ahead whilst that project remains on the cards."

The upgrade would see the junction turned into a 'diamond interchange' with a southbound sliproad onto the A34 and a northbound sliproad off it into Abingdon.