Overnight closure of Oxford's eastern bypass will send lorries thundering through residential streets in the small hours, furious local councillors claim.

Representatives of people in Headington and Wood Farm were outraged by Oxfordshire County Council's roadworks plans and accused the council of not informing people about the potential chaos.

The bypass's northbound carriageway between Horspath Driftway and Kiln Lane will be closed to all traffic between 9pm and 6.30am on an unknown number of nights.

The closures will take place over an eight-week period, starting on August 3, to allow resurfacing and drainage work.

Alex Hollingsworth, city councillor for Headington, yesterday told members of Oxford City Council's highways committee: "This is outrageous. The fact that this authority, its members and officers, didn't know that a large chunk of the bypass would be shut for an unspecified number of evenings defies belief.

Alex Hollingsworth, Oxford City Council highways committee chairman, said: "The prospect of heavy goods vehicles thundering out of the Rover works and down Horspath Driftway all night fills me with nothing other than foreboding."

He called for a meeting to work out how to stop lorries using residential streets like Windmill Road, The Slade and Horspath Driftway as alternatives to the closed bypass.

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