THAMES Water started emergency roadworks in Botley Road last night.

The company began work on the eastbound carriageway near Binsey Lane at 9pm last night, closing the lane.

Temporary traffic lights will be in place while the work is carried out over the next three nights between 9pm and 6am.

Earlier in the day unusually long delays were reported on the A34, A44 and A40 while commuters tackled the morning rush hour.

Roadworks in Kennington and on the southern ring road added to the congestion but Thames Valley Police said no major accidents had been reported that could be responsible for the major delays.

Our top stories

The only incident on the A34 was a report of a Vauxhall Corsa that had broken down under a bridge at the Botley Interchange at 8.20am but the car was not thought to be blocking the road.

Stagecoach tweeted that heavy traffic from Yarnton to Oxford was causing half-hour delays to its S3 service.

Motorists were also delayed later in the morning when the A40 was blocked between Eynsham and Ducklington due to a crash involving a silver Peugeot.

A man in his 30s was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Stagecoach tweeted that all its Witney services were delayed as a result. The S1, S2 and S7 were diverted via Jubilee Way in the town and Freeland.

The traffic jams came as Thames Valley Police revealed a motorcyclist had been seriously injured in a crash with a BMW on Monday evening.

The 46-year-old man was being treated at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, yesterday following the collision with the silver car on the A4074 at Dorchester at about 6.30pm.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.