CAMPAIGNERS battling against a controversial road in Witney have said today is “the last roll of the dice”.

From 10am this morning, an inquiry will begin looking at Oxfordshire County Council’s case for building the Cogges Link Road.

The inspector will decide whether or not the council can compulsory purchase land for the £19.6m scheme aiming to cut congestion in Bridge Street.

It is the final hurdle for the county council to jump and, if permission is granted, work on the road could start next year. The road will run from Oxford Hill to Station Lane, but campaigners believe the road will shift the traffic problem to elsewhere in the town.

Today they will gather to put forward their case for the plan to be scrapped.

Survey organiser Wyn Devonald, of campaign group Witney First, said the team had canvassed 586 households in Cogges and claimed 93 per cent were against the scheme. He said: “It shows how much the people of Cogges just do not want this road.”

He said people preferred the Shores Green option, which would build a four-way junction on the A40 at Shores Green.

The road would allow drivers to use the dual carriageway to bypass Bridge Street and would cost less than £4m, campaigners said.

Mr Devonald said: “When the council is making cuts to youth centres, why is it so keen to go ahead with a road that the vast majority of Cogges do not want?”

Fellow campaigner David Condon, chairman of the Witney branch of Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: “This is the last throw of the dice, for both parties.”

If the council does not get permission to buy the land it will have to hand back money given by developers.

Councillor Rodney Rose, cabinet member for transport, said: “The Cogges Link Road will alleviate air quality problems and congestion in Bridge Street.

“The reason Shores Green is not a better option is because it puts everything on to the A40, and the A40 is already congested.”

Mr Rose also denied the road would cause flooding problems, and added: “We are improving the flood risk in that area.”

The inquiry will be held at Eynsham Hall in North Leigh.