OXFORDSHIRE’S political leaders have described plans to build an airport near Abingdon with a new motorway link road as “absolute madness”.

As revealed yesterday by the Oxford Mail, architectural firm Pleiade Associates has submitted the £18.2bn proposal to the Government Airports Commission, set up to look into the future of the UK’s airports.

But the company behind the scheme has refused to confirm or deny whether it has been hired to draw up the plans, claiming that is “irrelevant”.

The scheme is one of 50 put forward to the Airports Commission. The architects’ plans include the building of a 20-mile stretch of motorway, leaving the A34 at Harwell.

In addition, part of the A34 would also be turned into a motorway, between its junction with the M4 and its Abingdon junction.

The architects have claimed the proposals would have “very little impact on settlements”.

But Matthew Barber, the leader of Vale of White Horse District Council, said: “It’s absolute madness. The scale of it, with four runways, makes it twice the size of Heathrow in terms of runway capacity.

“It will entirely destroy at least one village and will make several others virtually uninhabitable.

“The transport implications will be huge. The idea that the A34 be turned into a motorway is fine, but we don’t want it to be the western arm of the M25.”

As well as road improvements, Pleiade has also put forward proposals for rail upgrades, with an eight-platform railway station included in the airport designs.

Nicola Blackwood, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, also criticised the scheme.

She said: “To sustain our economic growth we do need an accessible, internationally competitive hub airport but I’m afraid what I’ve seen of this plan doesn’t add up. Experts take the view that the long-term solution for the existing A34 capacity problems is to turn it into a motorway.

“Surely if you turn it into a motorway and add upwards of 125m passengers a year we’ll be back where we started – gridlocked and struggling to do business.”

Rodney Rose, the deputy leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said the motorway proposals were the wrong solution to the problem.

He said: “Until the A34 has got full motorway status, forget it. As long as there are only two lanes on the A34 there is no chance. One breakdown and the whole road comes to a stop.

“It will be no good having the airport at Steventon if you cannot get there from central Oxford.”

Margaret Davies, the leader of Didcot Town Council, said: “As much as we would like additional infrastructure, this isn’t it. It is a really bad idea.”

But Alan Geal, one of the architects at Bristol-based Pleiade Associates, claimed the proposals would be a good thing for Oxfordshire.

He said: “The economic benefits and transportational benefits to Oxfordshire are substantial. The airport will be an integrated transport system. Regardless of the airport, our solution is far less disruptive than trying to turn the A34 into a motorway.

“Our proposals have very little impact on settlements.

“People will be able to move around Oxford without getting snarled up with the airport traffic.”

When asked whether he had been commissioned to put together the proposals Mr Geal said that was “irrelevant”, adding: “The more important issue is whether this is the right solution.”

Comments on any of the proposals can be sent to the Airports Commission by emailing airports.inquiries@airports.gsi.gov.uk before Friday, September 27.

The commission, chaired by Sir Howard Davies, will present its interim findings by the end of the year, including a shortlist of proposals, with a full report by summer 2015.

A spokesman for the Airports Commission declined to comment on whether the scheme would be taken seriously, and said that would be for the members of the commission to decide over the next few months.