Motorists have been left fuming at the wheel this week as roadworks in Oxford's St Clement's Street and Abingdon Road caused severe delays to city centre traffic.

The county council's roads department said vandalism of temporary traffic lights was adding to the problems.

Bill Bowell, 71, of Bridge Street, Osney, who has been delivering the Oxford Mail for 26 years, said he waited for almost 40 minutes AT Park End Street yesterday.

He said: "It took me 39 minutes to get down Park End Street. I just turned my engine off to save petrol.

"It was very frustrating and made it a long day for me, taking so long to get home."

The work on St Clement's Street started this week and was due to be finished yesterday (April 30). The road was closed last night from 7pm-6am this morning. The work on Abingdon Road, carried out between about 7am and 7pm, is expected to finish May 17.

Branko Barojcic of the Victoria Hotel, Abingdon Road, said: "It is a nightmare. It has affected business, not just for me but everybody on the street. Every year there seems to be something happening here.

"I am very upset about it. It is a nightmare for guests who can't get in and out."

Pat Mulvihill, county council principal engineer, said everything possible was being done to minimise disruption to traffic. He said repeated vandalism to temporary traffic lights and road signs in Abingdon Road almost every other night had added to problems and caused thousands of pounds worth of damage.

Last Monday, traffic light wires were cut. The most recent incident happened in the early hours of yesterday when lights, set up to control a one-lane system during the roadworks, were smashed and signs damaged.

Mr Mulvihill warned "somebody was going to get seriously injured in a head-on crash" unless the vandalism stopped. Oxford police are investigating.

Mr Mulvihill added: "The work on St Clement's has been carried out during off-peak hours.

"We have been using manually controlled traffic lights to work with the flow of traffic.

"On the Abingdon Road we are planning on putting keep-clear signs on the side roads so cars can be let out more easily. Unfortunately with buses stopping and people using the pedestrian crossings, traffic is delayed further and we can't help that."

Mr Mulvihill said due to the sheer volume of traffic at rush hour, delays to traffic were inevitable.

The Oxford Mail yesterday reported how work on the Abingdon Road had been held up by problems with the street's water mains.