Traffic chaos has broken out on the approach to Botley Interchange this morning, with motorists having faced journeys of over five hours on their regular commute.

Delays on the north, east and southbound directions approaching the Botley Interchange were first reported by AA Traffic News just after 7.30am.

Motorists traveling towards the interchange have faced long delays and up to five miles of congestion in each direction – according to National Highways and motorists stuck on the roads.

National Highways has been carrying out work at the Botley Interchange, which is expected to continue until March next year.

One motorist, Sam Lockhart, travelling to work for the NHS in Oxford from Bampton, was stuck on the A420 for over five hours since 7.30am. 

Mr Lockhart said: “I’ve been driving for 12 years and I drive a lot for work (roughly 20,000 miles a year) and I’ve never experienced anything like this anywhere in the UK.

"The council need to sort this out. Oxford traffic is bad at the best of times but this is bordering on negligent.

“I can imagine they’ll be lots of people who couldn’t get to work on time or missed almost their whole day because of this. I could understand if it was a serious crash, but appears to just be the road system breaking down because of all their roadworks.”

Upon reaching Botley Roundabout, he witnessed several motorists involved in an altercation.

He added: “A fight just broke as it’s gridlocked and people are getting frustrated. Others calmed it down. The police should have been asked to help with traffic flow.

“People were beeping then getting out of their cars and confronting each other. One woman tried to angrily open someone else’s passenger side door.

"Then others calmed the situation down. I had just got off the A420 when it happened.”

He also said there was no sign of it easing, describing the scene as “completely gridlocked.”

Motorists caught up in the chaos have taken to X (formerly known as Twitter), asking National Highways for an explanation as to the cause of the delays. 

One motorist said: "What changed exactly from earlier this week?

"A lane has been closed on that roundabout for a few weeks now but hasn't always caused this much congestion. What will you do to prevent this in the future?"

Another motorist, who contacted the Oxford Mail through X (formerly known as Twitter), said: “I’ve been stuck since 9am from Cumnor towards Oxford, it’s made me late for work by two hours.” 

He reported it taking nearly two hours to reach the Botley Interchange.