Campaigners made a fresh plea for a Marcham bypass after an 87-year-old woman was injured in the latest of a series of crashes.

Connie Roberts escaped serious injury when the car she was a passenger was in collision with a lorry on the locally-known "bends and narrows" section of the A415 Packhorse Lane in Marcham, near Abingdon.

She was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, with chest bruising and muscular pain, but was sent home after being examined.

The accident, which caused traffic chaos yesterday morning along the A415, came as no surprise to the villagers who have been calling for a bypass to be built south of the village.

The notorious section of Packhorse Lane is considered too narrow for large vehicles to travel along safely - but Oxfordshire County Council has, in the past, rejected plans to ban lorries and buses from travelling along the road because it would be impossible to police.

That has subsequently led to calls for a bypass to be built. It would loop to the south of the village, crossing Manor Farm and Kiln Copse before rejoining the A415 just before the Blue Star garage. A scheme has been submitted to the county council, but plans are still being finalised before any decision can be made. Supporters hope a public exhibition detailing the plans will be held in Marcham by the end of the year.

A campaign group called DAM (Divert Around Marcham by) 2000 has been formed in the village, although residents against plans to build the bypass across farm and woodland have set up an opposition group, ABC (Alternative to the Bypass Campaign).

Marjorie Evans, former chairman of Marcham Parish Council, who supports the bypass plans, said: "I am not surprised at all that there has been another accident along that stretch of road.

"In fact, I am amazed there are not more accidents and fatalities there. It is a highly dangerous road for pedestrians and motorists alike."

She added: "The road on the bends and narrows section is far too narrow for large vehicles. Additionally, some motorists who don't know the road can drive too fast round the bends.

"They then find there's a large vehicle on their side of the road and it's too late to do anything about it."

Widening work on the road has been carried out by the county council but the problem hasn't gone away.

Pc Paul Langford, former beat bobby for Marcham, said: "That stretch of road has had this problem for years. It was at the stage once where there was a serious accident there once a week.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.