A FLOOD relief channel for Oxford looks set to become reality after a £42m cash boost.

The £125m Western Conveyance scheme will run from the area around Seacourt park-and-ride off Botley Road to the River Thames at Sandford Lock, and would divert water away from Oxford.

The Government announced the funding as its National Infrastructure Plan which will see £2.3billion invested in flood defences nationwide.

The latest money means the relief channel project has £118m, with city council leader Bob Price confident the final balance will be met.

He said: “We’ve got enough to go forward now because the balance will be found by Network Rail, Thames Water and local authorities.”

The channel was proposed after the county had been hit by major floods in January this year, as well as in 2007 and 2013.

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