I was caught up in the traffic delays on December 18. It took me eight hours to get from Junction 10 on the M40 to the Botley Interchange on the A34.

I really want to say a big thank you and well done to the three men that were managing traffic at Botley at around 7pm.

I think they were just members of the public or fellow motorists, but they were doing an excellent job of making sure all cars got up the exit slope safely so that traffic kept moving and no one came to harm.

It would have been chaos without them, and I did wonder why no one from the police or Highways Agency was there doing the same.

Does the Big Society mean we now have to rely on the good sense and goodwill of our fellow citizens in all adverse circumstances?

It sounds a bit haphazard to me!

Terry Stafford, Reading