COMPENSATION for homes affected by plans for the HS2 high speed rail line through Oxfordshire must be improved, say council bosses.

Cherwell District Council is to raise a series of concerns about the Government proposals for the line, which will pass through north east Oxfordshire, close to villages including Finmere and Mixbury.

The council has joined other local authorities in a High Court challenge to the plan. A judgment is due this month.

The council said in submissions on the plans that moves to let the Government refuse to buy a blighted home if only part needs to be knocked down are “unacceptable”.

The council said: “A property that is so close to the proposed scheme that it requires part of it to be demolished must be purchased.”