SOME Oxfordshire residents are likely to be aggrieved by any route picked for the £3bn Oxford to Cambridge expressway, the county council’s leader has admitted.

Ian Hudspeth was asked about the impact of any possible route that could be picked for the road at a council meeting yesterday. Building on it could start as early as 2020.

Mr Hudspeth said: “This is a national piece of infrastructure that could provide a local solution for Oxfordshire, particularly around the A34 which impacts on the majority of Oxfordshire’s residents.

“To reject a scheme that would benefit the majority of Oxfordshire on the basis of some important but local matters would not be looking at the strategic view across the county.

“Whatever route is chosen by Highways England there will inevitability a negative reaction from the local communities affected.

"We need to take all the views into consideration and look for mitigation.”

He has previously said the council is still keeping an open mind on any route it would support.

Last month residents, councillors and 21 Oxfordshire parish councils said they want to be consulted now about the three options which could be picked for the Oxford to Cambridge expressway.

Highways England said it is still too early to know whether any of the three options it has mooted are viable and that views will be welcomed – probably in 2019.

But the Expressway Action Group said it wanted to make its opposition officially known over one route, which could plough through the green belt south of Oxford.