EXPERTS were yesterday trying to work out how to move an overturned 40-tonne crane from a ditch.

The crane, owned by Bristol-based Kings Lifting, toppled over and fell upside-down into the ditch along Woodeaton Road, Woodeaton, at about 6pm on Monday. The verge collapsed under the vehicle’s weight and, as it slowly fell, the driver managed to escape unhurt.

Environment Agency officials have installed 15 sets of booms downstream to stop oil leaking from the vehicle contaminating the water.

Mathew Green, specialist team member at the Environment Agency, said: “There is always a slight risk when lifting something like this that it could rupture oil. It is a slim possibility but we would rather be on top of it.

“An oil spill can be quite catastrophic to the environment. One gallon of oil can cover a lake the size of a football field.”

Woodeaton Parish Meeting chairman Peter Hore said: “The road is a rat run into Oxford and at peak times there are 500 or 600 cars an hour going through.”

He said Oxfordshire County Council was set to close the road yesterday for repair work. The work, which will now include repairing the verge, will take about five weeks and traffic will be diverted through Bayswater Road.

No-one from Kings Lifting was available for comment.