Residents of Standlake say their village is being clogged up with traffic, because motorists are ignoring diversion signs.

The A415 Abingdon Road between Standlake and Brighthampton, which usually carries commuter traffic between Witney and Abingdon, was shut last month to allow Thames Water to work on the sewers. The work is expected to last six months.

Signs were put up diverting drivers through Aston, Bampton and on to the A420, but the diversion is about three times longer than the usual route and many motorists are ignoring it.

Harry Wyatt, the area's county councillor, said heavy traffic was passing Standlake Primary School and he believed the situation was dangerous. He said: "It's very, very bad. People in side streets are queuing for up to 10 minutes to get on to the road. Even articulated trucks and buses are using it.

"What worries me is the council has been forced by the closure to put up some diversions and now they say the rest is up to the police. It's getting so serious that I think the council has got to do something or a child is going to get killed."

Ted Tolputt, chairman of Standlake Parish Council, said villagers had been complaining for months about traffic "mayhem". Sue Berrill, a parish councillor who lives in Rack End, one of the roads being used as a short-cut, said: "It's very much busier, which we expected, and I think we can put up with that, because obviously the people on the Abingdon Road have got to have the sewers repaired.

"The main problem is the speed people are coming along Downs Road and around the corner. It's almost as though they know they shouldn't be there so they'll get away as soon as they can. It would be much better if there was a lower speed limit."

Thames Water is carrying out the £950,000 project to stop 18 houses flooding with sewage.

Paul Wilson, of the county council's highways depart- ment, said extra 30mph signs and warning signs by the school had been installed, but speed humps could not be built on roads with no street lights.

He said: "There is an option to put some type of temporary chicane in. A lot of people are starting to find their own way around the local roads and, unfortunately, some of the shortest routes are through Standlake."

Mr Wilson was planning to meet Standlake Parish Council to talk about further measures, and said police were patrolling the village this week enforcing the weight and speed limits.