WHILE everyone else will be snuggled up watching Christmas films this festive season, council workers have pledged their efforts to watching the roads instead.

A team at Oxfordshire County Council has committed itself to keeping an eye on traffic and any crashes, or breakdowns, whilst people make their way through the county over Christmas.

The council team will be monitoring the roads and traffic signals so any problems that arise can be dealt with as soon as possible in what is expected to be a very busy time on the county’s roads.

Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for community safety Judith Heathcoat said: “Responding quickly to any incident that could cause disruption to road users is a priority, particularly during the busy festive period.

“Please drive carefully in cold and icy conditions.

“We’ll do our best to ‘keep you moving’, part of our commitment is to ensure all of our residents have a safe, healthy and happy Christmas.”

The county council team will be based at the council’s traffic control centre in Kidlington, using technology that includes cameras in key locations to provide live traffic flow data.

It will be able to pick up problems such as a faulty traffic light or a crash on the Oxfordshire road network which often causes congestion throughout.

This technology will help the team pick these up quicker, allowing for an engineer or on-call colleagues to be alerted as soon as possible.

The council has also introduced an embargo on all non-essential roadworks on the major routes in the county, to keep Christmas traffic moving. Be it cars, cycles, pedestrians or public transport, by halting non-essential works the network can flow more easily at this peak time.

The embargo runs from throughout December and until January 7.

The Oxford Mail previously reported that drivers heading home for Christmas can expected the worst delays to hit the county on Friday and Saturday.

Experts at the RAC and traffic information firm Inrix have produced statistics which predicted five million journeys will be made on the M40 between Oxford and the M42 for Warwickshire over the two days.

The Christmas getaway is expected to hit the M40 hardest on Friday, with 2.8million journeys expected on the M40 southbound.

Most journeys are expected between 11.30am to 6pm southbound, between junction 8A for Oxford and the M42 in Warwickshire.

The experts predict delays of up to 110 minutes.

Drivers are also warned of long delays on the same section of the M40 the following day, heading northbound.

Some 2.2 million trips are expected on Saturday, between 10.30am and 4pm, with a 61-minute delay predicted.

Emergency services have warned drivers to take care around this time as bad weather is expected to creep in.

The Met Office reports temperatures of around 10C in the coming days but with heavy rain expected from 3pm on Sunday.

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue posted online: “Please take even more care when driving and getting about, the roads will be very slippery and dangerous.

“Also, keep an eye out for vulnerable neighbours and make sure everyone is warm and safe.”

It also added a warning about a campaign launched by the AA Trust hoping to reduce the estimated 25 per cent of fatalities that could be caused by drivers falling asleep at the wheel.

The team added: “Don’t let tiredness creep up on you. Stop. Take a break.”

Thames Valley Police have also launched its ‘It’s not worth the risk’ campaign in a bid to curb drink driving over Christmas.

The force have been holding events across town in various high streets to speak with residents about the problem over Christmas.

A car which was smashed into by a drink driver has joined the force on its tour of the county to highlight the serious dangers that could result from driving over the limit.

The force posted online: “Thame Valley Police and Fire and Rescue Officers are giving out strong advice about not drinking and driving during the festivities and a reminder about making sure enough time has elapsed before driving.”

For more details on the council’s traffic control centre go to news.oxfordshire.gov.uk/sleighing-congestion-at-xmas

Or for more information on road safety go online to think.gov.uk