ROADWORKS on an Oxford estate which were heavily criticised for their impact on the community have finished ahead of schedule.

'Suffering' businesses in Risinghurst had compared the estate to Alcatraz, after emergency roadworks exposed 'how much of an island it really is'.

Shops in Risinghurst said earlier this week that their takings had been hit by as much as 80 per cent during the three–week closure of Green Road, which cut off access to the estate from one side.

The Thames Water works, which began in early June, closed one of just two entrances to the area of the city.

But the company have now finished the work on a collapsed sewer.

In a statement, it said: “Our work to repair the sewer on Green Road has been successfully completed and we reopened the road on Thursday, slightly earlier than originally planned. While we had the road closed we also fixed a leak on a clean water pipe, reducing the likelihood of us having to come back again in the near future and saving precious water from being wasted.”