Kidlington residents say it can take almost an hour to get into Oxford during the morning rush hour -- because of rat-running motorists and delays at a roundabout.

Chris King

People living in Garden City say they struggle to get their cars out of the estate because the service road running alongside Oxford Road is blocked by traffic using it as a short-cut to Kidlington roundabout, which is also clogged with traffic. Bus passengers said the jams were also delaying their journeys.

Car user Annette Nix, of South Avenue, said it regularly took her more than 50 minutes to get to work in Oxford -- a journey which should take 15 minutes.

She said the situation had deteriorated in the past two months, with traffic building up from 7am.

Mrs Nix said: "It's a nightmare for anybody trying to get off the Garden City estate to go towards the Kidlington roundabout, which is blocked by traffic. It holds up people wanting to go into Oxford or turning right to go down to the Pear Tree interchange or the A34.

"It is made worse by people using the road alongside Oxford Road as a rat run from the Squire Bassett pub because they think they can get to the roundabout faster. It means we can't get off the estate."

Chris King, of Brandon Close, said: "I get the bus into Oxford most mornings. On average it takes an hour to travel six miles."

Ellie Simmonds, 24, who drives from Fritwell into Summertown to work, said she hits traffic every morning at Kidlington when she comes off the A34.

She said: "The roundabout is always congested. Sometimes it can take up to 20 minutes to get from the traffic lights at Kidlington across the roundabout."

Kidlington's county councillor Chris Robins said: "It is an on-going problem but one that is not easy to solve."

He said traffic calming work on Morton Avenue and Almond Avenue -- due to take place in the next financial year -- should discourage drivers from using the estate as a rat run.

Colin Baird, principal engineer at Oxfordshire County Council, said engineers were also looking into the possibility of a continuous bus lane along the length of Oxford Road.