The Government has today announced significant funding to help build a new road in Didcot.

The long-awaited Northern Perimeter Road project will receive £6.2million, the Housing Minister Alok Sharma said.

The road is seen as crucial to the success of the Didcot Garden Town initiative which will see 15,000 new homes built in the town by 2031 along with facilities such as schools, shops and a leisure centre.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said it was supporting the project in order to relieve pressure on local transport networks and to accommodate the expanding communities in the local area.

The planned road will run from the A4130 at Hadden Hill, and link up with Abingdon Road where it meets the Ladygrove ring road.

It is hoped that it will help to ease traffic in the town centre.

John Cotton, Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, said: "I'm really pleased that we are able to fund the completion of the northern perimeter road - a project that has been sat waiting for years.

“Once completed, the road will relieve pressure elsewhere in the town and provide a real boost to other Garden Town proposals."

Alok Sharma said: “This £6.2m funding is excellent news for the Oxfordshire area, promising to boost local growth and turbo-charge the delivery of thousands of new homes.”