DRIVERS face further delays on Oxford’s Botley Road after contractors re-surfaced it with the wrong materials.

Work to repair a burst water main aws due to finish on Monday but ran into yesterday morning, causing traffic chaos in the area. And it was last night revealed that recycled material was used to patch up the road and, as a result, it will have to be done again in the next three months. But the water company will avoid a financial penalty because despite a broken promise that the work would be done in a day, it had applied for a five-day licence.

Oxfordshire County Council spokesman Marcus Mabberley said: “The council has contacted Thames Water to express its disappointment that the work took longer than they had originally estimated and about the fact that the wrong material was used to fill the hole.

“Temporary traffic lights will have to again be used at some stage in the next three months as Thames Water used the wrong material to fill the hole which was dug following the repair of the water leak.

“The lower-quality material will therefore have to be removed and replaced by Thames Water with a different material more suitable for a busy road.”

Thames Water apologised for the disruption but said it did not know when lasting repairs would occur.

It refused to criticise its contractors and said it had tried to open the road as quickly as possible.

Spokesman Craig Rance said: “Due to a delay in getting materials, we were forced to delay re-laying a new road surface until yesterday morning. “We used temporary materials so we could reopen the lane quicker.

“Full resurfacing will take place in off-peak hours and we will arrange with the council to make sure it has the minimum impact on traffic.”

Thames Water said the work would be complete on Monday evening but contractors took until 11am yesterday to finish.

The lane closure clogged the road back to the Botley Interchange, with drivers reporting that it took up to 30 minutes to reach Ferry Hinksey Lane.

Long-suffering businesses and residents were dismayed to hear they would be hit with a repeat of the tailbacks.

Manor Road resident Adrian Porter, 41, was one of those caught up in the delays.

He said: “I am often left aghast by the lack of co-ordination between the authorities which are often compounded, as in this case, by contractor mistakes.”

Owner of Botley Road convenience store Eggs Eggsetera Joe Devlin said takings had been hit.

Mr Devlin said: “It is hugely frustrating to hear they will have to dig it up again. “The lay-by outside has been packed solid. People haven’t been able to park and we have suffered.

Oxford Wine Company branch manager Lee Isaacs added: “We have seen before with the gasworks overrunning that it can hit trade.

“We have been lucky in that, while it will have an effect, the disruption this time has been earlier in the week, so before our busy periods.

“It’s not something you want to hear, and people driving past simply won’t stop. Not good news.”

In April, emergency work to repair a gas leak in the road caused long tailbacks after the re-surfacing work was delayed.

Drivers reported half-an-hour journeys from Seacourt to Ferry Hinksey Road as a result of three-way-traffic lights in place for four days.