We have known for a long while that traffic in Oxfordshire is on a knife edge.

It takes just one incident to throw much of the county into chaos.

And so it proved again when a pedestrian was killed in a hit-and-run accident on the A40 Oxford-Witney road yesterday.

The main route to and from the west was closed for much of the day, forcing thousands of drivers to find alternative routes.

It was obviously right for police to close the road because they needed to seal off what was effectively a crime scene to look for evidence which would lead to the identity of the vehicle.

The resultant chaos was not unexpected, given that the A40 is always so busy.

One of the main alternative routes was across Swinford tollbridge to Botley.

That would have proved a Godsend had the owners shown a bit of compassion and stopped collecting the tolls.

Their refusal to do so meant that huge queues built up as motorists stopped to hand over their 5p.

The tollbridge is an anachronism operating under an Act of 1767. It has no place in the 21st century.

We're all in favour of keeping many of our ancient traditions. But Swinford bridge and its money grabbers aren't among them.