PLANS for Long Hanborough station which were last week just a vague outline and an application for funding, have suddenly come into much sharper focus.

News that a developer has offered land for a new car park and will put in some of the work necessary to develop station buildings has been welcomed and must surely signal that these are very concrete plans, rather than pie-in-the-sky dreams.

This could move the proposal forward significantly and could see the station soon becoming a new transport hub for West Oxfordshire.

There is no doubt the station facilities need a huge upgrade to be transformed from what is at present just a platform, to a proper commuter station able cope with the rapidly increasing numbers of passengers sick of battling the strangled A40 corridor.

What the Long Hanborough proposal does do is put Witney within touching distance of a commuter line that links to London.

It is a good first step but the transport campaigners will still need to keep fighting their corner.