A section of the Cotswold railway line in Oxfordshire is to be dualled, Oxfordshire County Council transport chiefs have been told today.

The Office of Rail Regulation has confirmed to Transport Secretary Kelly that it has approved the funding meaning that the final obstacle has been cleared, allowing Network Rail to lay 20 miles of new track between Charlbury and Evesham, including the section from Charlbury to Ascott-under-Wychwood.

The Cotswold Line was reduced to a single track in many places by British Rail in the early 1970s.