THE £100m estimated cost of a flood channel through Oxford could be further reduced.

Officials from the Environment Agency (EA) yesterday said the final figure would not be confirmed until April but suggested the scheme could be delivered using just the £84m already pledged.

The comments come after small businesses rejected calls for local firms to help bridge a funding gap of £10m, with Oxford Bus Company claiming there was no ‘sound business case’ for it to contribute.

Partners involved include Oxford University and Oxford City Council, which have pledged land, and Thames Water, which last week said could chip in £3m.

Project leaders have yet to make clear how they would plug a remaining shortfall.

But senior representative Peter Collins said yesterday: “Each time we take a step forward with the project there are opportunities for costs to come down.

“There may be ways to design it differently within the funding we have got, such a having fords instead of building bridges. “

Mr Collins said the agency would also seek to reduce maintenance of the flood channel by involving members of the community.

His comments came as the agency visited city council-owned land at South Hinksey to mark out the proposed route of the channel in detail for the first time.

Most of the four-mile channel will be about one and a half metres deep, with its main section six to eight metres wide.

Referring to the pegs used to show its location, Mr Collins quipped the EA had ‘staked out its commitment’ to the scheme’.

City council officer Jo Colwell praised the ‘clear progress being made’.

She added: “Seeing something on the ground suddenly makes this scheme much more tangible. It is a huge undertaking but one that will tackle the serious flooding problem Oxford faces.”