Flooding has continued to cause serious delays for drivers near a key route into Oxford.

Last night the county council announced it had reopened Abingdon Road but the route remained closed between the Weirs Lane, Donnington Bridge Road junction and Old Abingdon Road on Wednesday morning.

Oxford Bus Company reported delays for its drivers of about 45 minutes as they continue to have to use diversion routes during the morning rush hour.

READ MORE: Abingdon Road reopens

The company said in a statement this morning: "We are experiencing severe delays of up to 45 minutes across our network.

"Although the main section of Abingdon Road has reopened, the road remains closed between Weirs Lane and Old Abingdon Road so a long diversion is still required for our cityX1/X3/35/43/300 services."

Oxfordshire County Council announced around 3pm that the key route had "fully reopened".

A statement from the authority said: "Abingdon Road in Oxford is now fully open again following the recent flooding. 

"Fire crews have finished pumping water away. A clean-up has taken place, and the road has been gritted.

"Please remember the High Street bus gate is now back in operation."

Some people had been questioning why the whole of the Abingdon Road route has not yet been fully reopened.

The county council said earlier: "We continue to monitor the situation and hope to be able to reopen the road by the end of today (Wednesday) if it is safe to do so.

"We will post on X/Twitter when this happens."

Oxford City Council said earlier fire crews were continuing to pump away water.

Oxford Mail: Flooding in Abingdon RoadDotty Clay, a bus passenger from Abingdon, said: "My bus driver said he’s personally checked the road and it was as 'dry as a bone '.

"He also said it’s going to add an hour to routes via Abingdon and even to people who are trying to use park and ride.

READ MORE: Pizza Express set to reopen new restaurant in Oxford 

"Considering that this is the council behind LTNs they don’t seem to be doing anything towards reducing petrol use - in fact every measure they’ve introduced seems to have increased the amount of time people are in their cars either driving or worse idling their engines."

A householder living near Abingdon Road, who did not wish to be named, said: "I walked from the Travelodge to Tesco’s last night in flip-flops. There were barely any puddles and fire rescue machinery in lay-bys or bus stops."

Culham Bridge near Abingdon also remains closed following the flooding in the aftermath of Storm Henk.

Fire crews from Banbury and Oxford joined forces and have worked to pump out water out from Abingdon Road since it closed on Friday following heavy rainfall.

The county council had temporarily opened the High Street bus gate to all traffic 24 hours a day to offset the effects of the closure combined with the continued closure of Botley Road.

Oxford Mail: Flooding in Abingdon RoadBut the bus lane restrictions are once again being enforced by ANPR cameras as of Tuesday afternoon.

Despite the possible impact on traders, the county council took the initial decision to close Abingdon Road but said it was not "done lightly and always with safety in mind".

A statement from the Environment Agency said: "River levels in Oxford remain high but are slowly reducing. River levels should continue to fall over the next few days as a period of dry weather is forecast.

“Environment Agency teams remain out on the ground, working 24/7 to minimise the impacts of flooding where possible by operating flood defences, flood relief channels, deploying pumps and clearing watercourses.

“So far, nearly 80,000 properties in England have been protected in the last few days.

"We urge people not to drive though floodwater and to follow the advice of local emergency services on the roads – floodwater is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm is enough to float your car."

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

You can also read his weekly Traffic and Transport newsletter.