AN UPDATE on a major new road which would connect Oxford and Cambridge will be given ‘in due course’ according to the government.

The Oxford to Cambridge Expressway would connect the two universities cities by building on the existing road network.

Sue Cooper leader of South Oxfordshire District Council and chair of the Oxfordshire Growth Board, wrote to government transport secretary Grant Shapps in February asking him when an announcement on the road might be expected.

The transport under-secretary, Baroness Vere of Norbiton, wrote back on February 29, and said: "The Department [of tranport] will provide an update on whether the project should continue in due course."

The letter added that Highways England, the government body which was responsible for major road projects, was looking at the future of the Expressway, including its costs and benefits.

During the General Election, Grant Shapps had promised a review of the Expressway if the Conservatives were re-elected.

The eastern end of the Expressway has relied on using the existing road infrastructure around the A14, but there was concern that the Oxford to Milton Keynes section would need a new highway to be built.

Environmental campaigners and residents of some Oxfordshire villages were concerns about the destruction building this new road would have.

An announcement on the Expressway may accompany the government budget, according to the Prime Minister, who told Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner to expect one in the House of Commons.