A bypass around a village near Abingdon where traffic often comes to a standstill may never be built, according to the county's transport coun- cillor.

The Marcham bypass, first suggested before the Second World War, has not been included in the Government's £27m local transport plan settlement -- an annual amount paid to Oxfordshire County Council to improve roads and public transport.

David Robertson, the county's executive member for transport, said: "The Marcham bypass didn't rate in the Government's assessment of schemes to get any funding and it is unlikely to be built unless there is a change in the Department for Transport criteria."

Mr Robertson said there was no developer funding -- money donated by builders working on local developments likely to create more traffic -- which meant the bypass was dependent on Government funding.

He said: "While the settlement money isn't ring-fenced, the Government makes recommendations and it would be silly of us not to follow them."

Dr Marjorie Evans, a Marcham Parish Council member and former Oxfordshire county councillor for Marcham, said: "I think it will happen, but the problem is a national one because the Department for Transport are dealing with it and it seems they have a national priority list for road improvement schemes.

"I have been campaigning for this for more than 20 years and became a county councillor to get it built.

"The situation is getting worse because of the increased volume of traffic and more lorries passing through."

Andrew Crawford, Marcham's county councillor said: "We are still intending to apply for planning permission for the road in February 2005. The fact the Department of Transport has turned it down isn't fatal -- we will re-apply next year and it won't necessarily affect the timescale for the project."