Drivers faced long delays and diversions after a long stretch of the A34 was closed following a car fire.

The A34 northbound between Milton and Abingdon closed last night (Thursday, June 27) at around 9.30pm for emergency resurfacing works following the fire that took place five hours earlier.

Reports of the fire first came in at around 4.35pm as Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue and Thames Valley Police were called to the incident.

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One lane was closed while the fire was dealt with by the emergency services as traffic passed at 10mph, according to AA.

Long delays of up to 45 minutes continued into the evening as the lane remained closed for resurfacing works.

The entire A-road was then shut northbound from Milton to Abingdon as work carried on through the night.

A diversion was put in place for drivers with the section of the A34 reopening at around 5.50am this morning (Friday, June 28).

A statement from National Highways on Friday morning said: “The A34 northbound between the A4130 at Milton and the A415 at Abingdon has reopened following emergency resurfacing works overnight.

“No significant delays are reported in the area. Thank you for your patience.”

Fire services were called to this car on the A34Fire services were called to this car on the A34 (Image: Contributed) Bus services were also diverted yesterday afternoon and evening due to the “increased traffic” following the fire.

A Thames Travel statement said: “Due to an incident on the A34, our ST1 and X32 services will be diverting via Drayton and Steventon.

"Due to this increased traffic we expect heavy delays on any service using this route.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience during this time.”

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There were also delays on the A34 southbound yesterday due to a crash near the Botley Interchange.

One lane was blocked following the crash at around 4.50pm with “severe” delays reported of being up to 23 minutes.

Fire crews were called to this vehicle blaze Fire crews were called to this vehicle blaze (Image: Contributed) Thames Valley Police and Highways England attended to arrange for recovery and direct traffic passing by.

Drivers were told to “approach with caution or find an alternative route to avoid delays”.

The vehicles were removed from the road at around 6.20pm with the lane reopening as delays began to ease.

During this time, there were also delays on Oxford's ring road as one lane was blocked by a broken down vehicle on the A423 Westbound, towards the Kennington roundabout.

This caused delays of around 20 minutes on the A4142 and A4074 along the southern bypass.

The broken vehicle was first reported at 4.55pm and was removed by 6.10pm.

The Oxford Mail has approached Thames Valley Police and Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue for a comment on the car fire.