COMMUTERS will face “horrendous” jams when one of the main routes into Oxford is closed for a fortnight.

Oxfordshire County Council is closing the busy Eynsham Road between Farmoor and Botley for two weeks from Monday to fix potholes.

But Thames Water has delayed flood alleviation work in Botley, which was due to start tomorrow and last until Christmas.

Eynsham resident Pamela Powell, 79, said: “It is going to be horrendous for people who use the road to get to and from work.”

But she added: “The road from Farmoor to Botley is terrible.

“They have got no alternative and in the end we will all benefit from it. We have just got to put up with it.”

Work to resurface Eynsham Road, from the Farmoor mini- roundabout to the A420 Cumnor bypass bridge, will take place between 9am to 6pm and run until October 28.

Signs will divert drivers heading from Witney to Oxford along the A40 and A34.

Eynsham Road residents will still have access to their homes.

Bus company Stagecoach will divert its S1 and 11 services through Cumnor to avoid the work.

The bus company’s Oxfordshire commercial manager Robert Williams said: “There will be a few delays because it will take longer to get around the diversion.

“But we will use our spare vehicles to plug any gaps and make sure we have got drivers to do that.”

Cumnor Parish Council chairman Philip Hawtin said: “We suspect the vast majority of the traffic will not follow the official diversion, and instead come through Cumnor.”

The county council’s cabinet member for transport Rodney Rose said: “Basically, we have to do it.

“One more winter and people will not be able to drive along Eynsham Road.

“Inevitably, a project of this nature is going to cause some disruption and we will be monitoring the situation as work progresses to try to keep that to a minimum.”

He added: “If we do it at night it will double the length of time it takes, so the whole road network would be upset for four weeks instead of two.

“This gives us a good working day in good daylight hours that we can get on with the job and get it finished quickly.”

Thames Water was due to start flood alleviation work in parts of West Way, Botley, tomorrow, starting at the Eynsham Road junction.

But an unexpected leak in a 27-inch pipe under the Botley Road railway bridge in the city centre has delayed the work. The flood alleviation work will start after the leak is fixed.

Spokesman Natalie Slater said the pipe repair was a complex job, but it would not affect traffic on the Botley Road.

tjennings@oxfordmail.co.uk