The transport secretary has cancelled plans for a £3.5bn “expressway” which had been seen as a vital part of the government’s plans for one million homes in an “arc” between Oxford and Cambridge.

Grant Shapps said a review of the road scheme, which the National Infrastructure Commission has said is necessary to ensure the planned homes in the so-called Ox-Cam arc can be built, had shown the project was “not cost-effective”.

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