Spending Review: Didcot's synchrotron escapes cuts

The synchrotron is housed in a giant doughnut-shaped building

Funding for one of the UK's biggest science facilities has been confirmed in the Spending Review.

The Diamond synchrotron - a type of "super microscope" - is used to help research in everything from healthcare to archaeology.

The intense ultraviolet beams and X-rays it produces penetrate deep into material to reveal internal structures.

George Osborne told the Commons that the facility, housed near Didcot, Oxfordshire, would escape the cuts axe.

He said the UK's science budget would be protected at £4.6bn a year, though efficiency savings would have be made.

It is housed in a giant doughnut-shaped building over half a kilometre in circumference, covering the size of five football pitches.