FRESH roadworks started on Iffley Road yesterday as a second phase of improvements got under way.

Temporary lights were set up yesterday before work started, and motorists will again be faced with a single lane of traffic for the next five months.

The £2.5m scheme started last summer, and the second phase will see the stretch of road between the Henley Street and Stanley Road junctions resurfaced.

The junctions of Aston Street, Stanley Road, and Chester Street are closed until February 3.

Further work will continue towards Donnington Bridge Road to the end of June.

Acorn Guest House owner Kate Pattullo said: “It is going to impact enormously. It cannot not do so.

“I am a bit worried that the next three months is going to be a bit tight, with the economic climate, the road works, and having a big guest house that needs filling, while the overheads do not go down.

“At this time of year we are liable to lose what little business there is.”

Work finished in November on the stretch between The Plain roundabout and Henley Street.

Oxfordshire County Council has said that the nature of the surface improvements has made road closures unavoidable.