Main road out of Northamptonshire reopens after long closure following huge sinkhole

The A361 near Wardington, between Daventry and Banbury, reopened on Thursday (December 19) following the completion of emergency repairs to a sinkhole, as reported by our sister paper the Banbury Guardian. The road was closed on December 5 after a sinkhole appeared.

Following first inspections, the Oxfordshire County Council initially predicted it would reopen the road at the end of December; however, work has been completed over a week ahead of schedule.

Councillor Andrew Gant, cabinet member for transport management, said: “I am extremely grateful to our highways teams for making this such a priority and for reopening this busy road earlier than expected.

“While this repair work was carried on an emergency basis in order to reopen the road as quickly as possible, we will be working with our partners at Cherwell District Council and the Environment Agency in the new year to explore whether more permanent repairs are necessary.

“If this is the case, residents can be assured that they will be carried out as planned works which should be less disruptive to users of this busy road.”

The reopening of the road will be good news to many Banbury residents as well as residents of nearby villages who have been forced to use small country lanes as diversion routes.

On Monday (December 16) a lorry stuck in boggy ground on Appletree Lane between Cropredy and Chipping Warden caused traffic chaos in the area for around six hours.

It is believed the driver of the vehicle was using the single-track lane as a diversion route because of the A361 closure at Wardington.

A local who witnessed the incident said: “Drivers had to reverse and retrace their steps for miles in both directions.

“This worsened the situation as the passing places became more boggy and extremely muddy, causing more vehicles to become stuck, resulting in several screaming matches between drivers.”

The sinkhole is believed to have been caused by the recent flooding of the River Cherwell, which resulted from Storm Bert.

The council has confirmed that during the most recent inspection of the pipe, which took place before the flooding, there was no cause for concern about the culvert’s condition.