A £6bn package of motorway improvements announced by Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly today is expected to bring improvements at junction nine of the M40.

The busy junction where the A34 meets the M40, near Bicester, is a bottleneck for traffic at peak times and the Highways Agency has been planning to carry out major work to improve traffic flow.

Ms Kelly said: "I am determined to get the best from our road network so that motorists have reliable journey times on roads that are safe and well-managed. The greatest barrier to this is congestion."

The announcement includes up to £6bn in funding for improvements to strategic national roads in the period up to 2014.

The Government announcement said work could start at junction nine before 2014, but did not give a more precise time estimate.