Private road at Swinford Toll Bridge criticised for potholes

The condition of the road at Swinford Toll Bridge between Eynsham and Swinford in West Oxfordshire has been criticised by the public and councillors who regularly use it.

However, the matter is complicated by the fact the road is privately owned, therefore not the responsibility of Oxfordshire County Council, the authority which would usually deal with pothole-ridden roads.

In 2009, the toll bridge, along with a cottage next to the bridge, a car park and more than four acres of land, was sold for just over £1 million at auction.

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However, the toll bridge, which charges 5p for cars, has now come in for criticism from locals.

Jane Johnson, from Minster Lovell, uses the road on a daily basis and said the state of the road could lead to an accident.

“My husband and I use the road daily and we’ve noticed a rapid deterioration in its maintenance in the last few months,” she said.

“It’s a major bus and commuter route but it looks like parts of the road have almost melted.

“There’s five really bad potholes and one like a crater, where if there’s another car, you have no option but to go into.

“If you try and swerve out the way, it could be quite dangerous and cause an accident.”

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Mrs Johnson said she and her husband had reported the problems on FixMyStreet, a website which allows users to inform their local authority of residential problems, such as potholes or faulty streetlights.

Mrs Johnson said she was told by the county council that as the road is privately owned, there was nothing it could do.

West Oxfordshire district councillor Dan Levy, for the Eynsham and Cassington ward, is a regular user of the road.

As the council’s cycling champion, he is concerned about the condition of the road for those on bikes, as well as motorists.

He said: “The surface at the gate certainly needs some repairing and sorting out.

“With my cycling hat on, you see all these chippings come up which can be dangerous for cyclists.

“On and off, the road has had problems, especially in the past few months.

“It was in late January I think when the tolls stopped being collected, which has only made the problem worse.”

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Charles Mathew, county councillor for the Eynsham division, said he receives countless emails from residents, calling for improvements to be made to the road.

“The road is dangerous, as in you fall down into a hole,” he said.

“I’ve asked for action on a number of occasions and I’m absolutely fed up with the lack of action.

“I get a lot of emails from people complaining about the bridge.”

The toll bridge stretches across the River Thames and is unique in the sense it is governed by its own Act of Parliament and enjoys tax-free status.

The owner of the bridge is exempt from paying income tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax or VAT on the bridge because of an act passed in 1767 by George III.