THERE are worrying signs that plans to improve the Shores Green junction on the A40 east of Witney could become another long-running farce, like the Cogges Link Road.

County council leader Ian Hudspeth and landowner James Mawle are at loggerheads over money which the council says can be put towards adding westbound slip roads to the junction.

After a decade of disputes over the link road scheme, which eventually came to nothing after a costly public inquiry, Witney urgently needs action to address its traffic problems.

Over that decade, the population of the town has continued to expand, and with 1,000 more homes on the way, when work on the Witney West development begins, traffic will only increase.

The town cannot afford to wait another decade for something to be done to ease the pressure on Bridge Street and the nearby junctions.

The ideas set out in the county council’s newly-adopted transport strategy for the town – and a similar document for Carterton – offer sensible ideas for a way ahead, but with the Government warning that spending constraints must remain in place for several years, finding the money to implement them will not be easy.

For that reason, we would urge the council and Mr Mawle to get back round the table and start talking again to find a way ahead, so that Shores Green can be improved sooner rather than later.