Coroners have almost cleared the backlog of military inquests that forced Oxfordshire families to endure the longest waits in the country to find out how their loved ones died.

The Government revealed the backlog has more than halved since last year.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said as of October 22 there were 41 inquests into overseas military deaths outstanding in the county.

That is down from 86 in May 2006, when ministers pledged to provide extra resources for Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner, who was being overwhelmed by the number of fallen soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan flown into Brize Norton airbase in Carterton.

The Government supplied two extra assistant coroners and, in April this year, shifted responsibility for overseas military deaths to the Wiltshire coroner.

Last month, Mr Gardiner apologised after figures revealed Oxfordshire inquests took an average of 46 weeks to reach court in 2006.

The 41 outstanding military inquests in the Oxfordshire coroner's jurisdiction include that of Fusilier Gordon Gentle, from Glasgow, who died aged 19 on June 28, 2004, and whose inquest opened on MondayOCT29.

Last month, Jane Cherrill, 54, of Marston Road, Oxford, revealed she and her family had waited 10 months for the inquest into the death of her son Anthony Oliver, 29. He died after being hit by a car in London Road, Headington on June 4 last year, but the inquest was held in April 2007.

Mrs Cherrill said: "I feel for all the families who were in the same boat as us waiting a long time for an inquest because of the military hearings.

"The situation will be much better once all the military inquests are finished and people will not have to wait so long."

Mr Gardiner said the military inquests would be cleared by February and pointed out that many inquests already took as little as six weeks to complete.