A major rail infrastructure project has been temporarily put on hold with a councillor saying he hopes it is the end of the line for such an "ill-advised" scheme.

Oxfordshire Railfreight Ltd (ORL), the company behind the strategic rail freight interchange (SRFI) being built around junction 10 of the M40, near Bicester, have decided to pause work on the project “to allow for a thorough review to take place.”

The scheme includes three large warehouse blocks that will be roughly within a two-kilometre radius of junction 10, all of which are to be built on countryside land.

READ MORE: Bicester fire station raises over £1,000 for charity

The largest of them will see 604,000 metres squared of warehousing and associated infrastructure built to the east of Heyford Park.

A spokesperson for ORL said: “Following the initial stage one consultation held in summer 2022, work has continued to refine and progress the SRFI proposals, including the highways and transport elements of the scheme.

“However, as of April this year, ORL has decided that it is right to pause the wider work on the project to allow for a thorough review to take place.

“The reasons for this are that the scale and complexity of the emerging highways infrastructure works and associated transport measures are significant, in large part due to attempts to resolve existing transport challenges and problems in addition to mitigating its own impacts. “As a result, careful reflection is required before the scheme will be progressed to statutory consultation and examination.”

Councillor Ian Corkin is concerned about the limitations to the capacity of the rail line, as well as the project’s impact on nearby villages.

He said: “This has always been an opportunistic proposal to build a massive, traditional distribution centre on a green field site.

“Placing it next to a rail line changes its planning status, but there are considerable limitations to the capacity of that line for freight and by their own admission, it will be mostly serviced by HGVs; thousands of them a year.

“We know junction 10 of the M40 is already a basket case, but so is junction 9 and the two are interdependent.

“Quite rightly, National Highways are insisting on substantial engineering works to both junctions and that is threatening the viability of the proposal.

“For the sake of the surrounding villages, I really hope this is the end of the line for such an ill-advised scheme.”

The spokesperson for ORL added that the company have made significant investments into the project, and despite the pause in work, it remains fully committed to delivering the scheme.