THERE have been 'soul destroying’ traffic jams in Oxford this week as emergency repairs and an influx of cars post lockdown have led to gridlock.

Drivers and those using public transport have faced huge queues during morning and evenings at rush hours, with delays of more than an hour reported.

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Commuters shared their frustrations over the the long delays on social media, with Hannah Shuker describing Botley Road, the focus of the chaos, as an 'absolute shambles'.

Oxford Mail:

Her tweet on Wednesday afternoon said: "You can not open all shops and encourage people to shop while having continuous road works.

"Sitting in traffic for over an hour as a key worker is soul destroying."

Bike courier business Pedal and Post also tweeted there was 'carnage' on the busy route during peak traffic.

Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach Oxfordshire reported 'severe' delays to their services, with Thames Travel diverting its ST2 service to avoid the road entirely.

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Oxfordshire County Council's travel twitter account has also been urging people to allow extra time if heading in or out of the city along that route.

The majority of disruption has been caused by temporary traffic lights on Botley Road, in place near Binsey Lane while utility company SGN worked to fix a gas leak.

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Spokesman Waseem Hanif said separate work to upgrade pipes near Waitrose had been finished Wednesday and it was hoped the temporary lights for the gas leak further down the road would be removed before morning rush hour tomorrow.

He said: “We’re carrying out emergency repairs in Botley Road, near it’s junction with Hill View Road, in Oxford following a gas leak.

"For everyone’s safety and due to the position of our gas main, temporary traffic lights and a temporary pedestrian crossing are in place.”

Oxford Mail:

He added: “Our repair work is now complete and road resurfacing has also been carried out.

“We’re currently waiting for the road surface to harden to the required specification.”

Mr Hanif said ‘all going well’ they hoped to return the road to normal before peak time tomorrow morning.

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An Oxfordshire County Council spokesperson confirmed the delays were in relation to the SGN emergency works, rather than any work it is doing.

They added: “OCC’s works continue to be manually controlled and site engineers remain in contact with the network management team to enable quick reaction times.”