MOTORISTS could be driving at speeds of up to 50mph on the approach to a roundabout proposed for an Oxfordshire town.

After several fatalities at the Vendee Drive roundabout in Bicester, plans to build a new one in the town were put on hold last month as councillors wanted to make sure the junction was as safe as possible.

It would have four arms in total: the eastern and western arms of the A41; the northern arm to serve the future development at Wretchwick Green, and the southern arm to provide access to the Graven Hill development.

Also read: New 'high-speed' roundabout for Bicester is put on hold

Cherwell District Council’s planning committee deferred their decision because of concerns that a 50mph speed limit that Oxfordshire County Council Highways had approved for one of the approaches to the roundabout would not be safe.

Councillor Nick Cotter said in the meeting last month: “If this proposal is voted through with a 50mph limit there will be at the very least, casualties, and at the very worst, fatalities.”

But after a review by the county council, it seems the 50mph limit will remain.

This will be discussed again at a planning committee meeting on Thursday where councillors will decide whether to approve the plan.

Three people have died in car crashes at the Vendee Drive roundabout in Bicester in 13 months.