THE name of an area of England where housing is expected to boom could be changed to sound less elitist.

That is the view expressed by the head of the National Infrastructure Commission about the Oxford to Cambridge Arc.

The Arc, or OxCam Arc as it is sometimes called, is a huge swathe of southern England between the two university cities where the government wants to see millions of homes build in coming decades, alongside new roads and rail infrastructure.

The area between the two cities, which also includes Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes, is predicted to become a hotbed of technology and science jobs.

But National Infrastructure Commissioner Bridget Rosewell has said she thinks the name could be changed from the OxCam Arc to the Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford Arc, or CaMkOx Arc.

In a speech to the Westminster Business Forum, Ms Rosewell said: "We’re very keen to get Milton Keynes in there to counter the challenge... that this was just about a couple of elitist universities and demand from some professors to go from one to the other."

Ms Rosewell's speech also gave updates on different projects to link up the regions across the Arc.

She praised work on the East-West Rail link, which could in the future see Bicester linked to Bedford by train.

But she also said the NIC did not know what the government's future plans were for the western end of the planned Oxford to Cambridge Expressway.

The major new road was officially 'paused' after December's election.

Oxfordshire's Growth Board recently asked the Government what it had planned for the future of the Expressway, but no new information was given other than to say it is still in limbo.

Campaigners against the road have argued it would cause ecological devastation.