Transport, business finance and rural broadband are the top priorities for the new president of the Oxfordshire Chamber of Commerce.

Nigel Wild believes he can put pressure on the Government to help solve many of the problems which hinder firms in the county.

He said: “There is an increasing amount of housing in west Oxfordshire, for example, but we still have the same roads to take more traffic.

“The A40 is getting worse, while I call the A34 “truck alley” — it only takes one breakdown for it to come to a standstill. What we need is a much more sustained approach to transport.”

Rural bus services are also high on Mr Wild’s agenda to help residents reduce their reliance on cars, while he has welcomed the upgrade of the Cotswold rail line and hopes it will provide more than one service a day to rural areas.

Mr Wild, who runs a business consultancy from his home in Ascott-under-Wychwood, also wants to see rural broadband services upgraded as a matter of urgency.

He said: “My broadband service is appalling — I have a little piece of copper wire which makes it very difficult to send even a photograph.

“It is amazing we are so poorly served in the provision of something which is now such an essential business tool.

“If we are moving towards cloud computing, where everything is conducted on the internet, then we will need good broadband to do that.”

Mr Wild said Oxfordshire had not been immune from the continuing after-effects of the recession, despite having a successful economy with many innovative firms and ambitious entrepreneurs.

He added: “It is a really difficult climate and the basic problem is money. People don’t want to spend money and the banks are unwilling to lend.”

Mr Wild plans to identify the needs of the county’s businesses.

He said: “There is such a varying picture. On the one hand we have BMW making a £500m investment in the Mini plant, which is wonderful, and on the other we are losing Chamber members because they are going bankrupt.”

Mr Wild said he was concerned about youth unemployment and rising tuition fees in higher education and wanted to see more emphasis put on apprenticeships.

He added: “I hope to bring some pressure to bear on Government and to co-ordinate the needs of businesses in Oxfordshire.”

James Hay, business manager for the chamber, said: “I am delighted we have such a committed and experienced president. I have no doubt Nigel will make a strong and lasting contribution to the prosperity of chamber members and the wider community in the county.”