‘The disruption is awful’ - A361 closed near Banbury - drivers should take diversion routes

Details are unclear but reports say the road has been closed after the bridge between Wardington and Chipping Warden collapsed and a large ‘sink hole’ appeared.

It could mean the closure will affect this main route into Daventry and Northamptonshire for some considerable time.

Stagecoach has tweeted that its service to Banbury has been affected. It said: “Due to the A361 being closed we are unable to serve Wardington with the divert in place. This will also cause delays on our B9 service. We are sorry for an inconvenience caused.”

The closure is likely to affect the narrow village roads around the area as traffic, much of it heavy, seeks alternative routes via Satnav.

Banbury Guardian correspondent Kathleen Betteridge said: “I woke at 6am to see flashing lights from the police cars turning back the vehicles. The amount of traffic going along there was amazing.

"They’re saying it’s a collapsed bridge and a sink hole. Traffic is still going along but it’s being turned back. They are going through Hogg End and Alleyn’s Orchard and having to turn back. Edgecote is closed too because they’re constructing the viaduct and there is a problem in Middleton Cheney because of works to the sewer system.

"Some drivers are going to Boddington, some to Culworth and some and some through Appletree and Cropredy. The bus is going through Culworth but Wardington is being missed. People in Wardington are begging people not to use the Edgecote Road,” she said. “It’s going to be so disruptive.

"Some people said when they were going across it yesterday they noticed some kind of ridge or crack and thought something was amiss. It must have happened during the night because I saw all these blue flashing lights and thought it was an accident or something.”

Mrs Betteridge said vehicles trying to find a way through when the A361 was closed at Kalabergo Hill because of the floods last weekend had made a terrible mess of the verges as they tried to pass each other on the Chacombe Road.”

The Banbury Guardian has asked Thames Valley Police for more information about the closure.