People attending this weekend's Royal International Air Tattoo face traffic misery with a number of key roads closed.

The closure of Halfpenny Bridge in Lechlade, near to the festival site at RAF Fairford, has added to a number of other nearby closures causing misery for locals travelling in that area. 

On June 20, a driver crashed into the historic bridge causing extensive damage and forcing Gloucestershire Council to close it to motorists. 

This has forced commuters to seek alternative routes while travelling between Highworth, Lechlade and Faringdon, which has caused additional problems. 

For example, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire Council have made the joint decision to close the road to Buscot Wick off the A361 because HGVs were using it and it is not a suitable road for those vehicles. 

This is on top of the long-term closure of the road between Kempsford and Hannington Wick because of dangerous sinkholes in the road, and the closure of Castle Eaton Bridge because of a 'void' under the road surface - although this road is set to reopen in time for the festival. 

All of these have caused a nightmare for residents and people working in the area who are having to seek increasingly longer routes to get home or to work, with dozens posting their frustrations on Highworth and Lechlade community Facebook pages. 

One person said: "This is a great inconvenience to everyone and people’s businesses that are suffering but I find it absolutely disgusting the extra long diversions for our emergency services!

"Sadly this potentially puts people's lives at risk. All it is doing is creating a lot of upset and arguments as nobody is taking responsibility for the actual problem."

Popular Lechlade store The Cats Pyjamas has also revealed the roadworks are having an impact.

A spokesperson for the store said: "We at the Cats Pyjamas have already noticed a massive drop in footfall and trade looking really bleak should be our busiest time now,"

And it's all happening as the Royal International Air Tattoo fast approaches, which will see around 200,000 plane enthusiasts travelling to the area for three days. 

Gloucestershire County Council has confirmed that Halfpenny Bridge will not be reopened in time for the airshow. It said that its teams are in regular contact with the Air Tattoo organising team who has a comprehensive traffic management plan in place for the event.

It also confirmed that one closed road will be reopening just for the weekend as a temporary bridge has been installed over the collapsed culvert on the Hannington Wick Road. 

With a traffic warning already issued for the A419 and A417, residents aren't expecting the misery to stop anytime soon. 

"It's going to be a nightmare," one said.