THE start of work on a new two-and-a-half mile walking and cycling route through a Didcot estate has been welcomed by a council leader.

The £395,000 Ladygrove Loop project is due to be complete by Christmas, installation of open-air fitness equipment and the planting hundreds of trees around the estate.

South Oxfordshire District Council, which is funding the scheme, said builders Hortech Landscape Management Ltd would start work this week.

The work will also include the creation of two play areas at Cow Lane and Tyne Avenue, as well as new flowers, trees, meadows and hedges planted along the route.

The area is little changed since the estate, north of the railway, was completed in the 1990s.

Council leader Ann Ducker said: “I’m pleased work is starting on this exciting project, which will create great new leisure facilities for local people and visitors. There will be a whole host of wonderful new features such as fitness trails, seating, play areas, and wild flower meadows where at the moment there is only grass.”