MP for the Cotswolds, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, said plans to upgrade the A417 would be scrapped by Labour, in Parliament.

Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey said that, during a public accounts committee meeting, the Department for Transport confirmed funding was still available for the work on the £485million 'Missing Link' scheme to dual a section of the A417 near the Air Balloon roundabout.

In the House of Commons last Thursday, Sir Geoffrey asked the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, for a statement on the progress of the project.

Sir Geoffrey said: “Sadly, there have been 10 fatalities and 123 casualties on that road in the last four years for which figures are available, so the improvement is desperately needed.

“Has my right honourable friend had the chance to evaluate the Labour party’s proposals to scrap the roads programme, which would mean hundreds of road schemes such as this never being built and motorists being hugely inconvenienced?”

Mr Grayling responded: “I have taken a personal interest in this project, which I regard as an important part of our infrastructure that needs to be addressed, and my honourable friend will be pleased to know that it is moving forward. Highways England announced its preferred route for the scheme in March, and it is now preparing for the next stage of the planning process, statutory consultation, followed by a development consent order process.

“We are putting in place schemes that will benefit road safety, that will improve journey times and that will be good for our economy. The A417 improvement is a much-needed scheme that does all those things, and it will be an essential part of this Government’s future planning."

The 'preferred route' is a new dual carriageway with an extra climbing lane at Crickley Hill for slow moving traffic. The Air Balloon roundabout and Cowley roundabout will be removed. A new section of road built through Shab Hill will re-join the road near the current location of Cowley roundabout and a new junction will be created at Shab Hill with links to Birdlip and the A436.