AMBULANCE drivers have been forced to fine alternative routes to try to avoid delays due to the Wolvercote and Cutteslowe roundabouts.

The £9m county council project to widen the A40 and A44 on the approach to the roundabouts and install traffic lights has caused lengthy delays at various times over the past year.

Overnight closures to parts of the Wolvercote roundabout last week caused miles of tailbacks.

South Central Ambulance Service said its average journey times had not been affected but that some non-emergency transport had been delayed.

Spokeswoman Michelle Archer said: "During this temporary period of work there is some disruption to normal traffic flow.

"The 999 ambulance service will use blue lights and sirens where appropriate to progress through traffic and where possible our clinicians have been taking alternative routes.

"But the delays they experience are no different to a congested route and the average time to travel to hospital via ambulance in Oxfordshire has not been affected by the roadworks."

She added: "We have experienced delays to our scheduled Patient Transport Service for non-emergency transport, however our skilled attendants have a good knowledge of the local area and have been seeking alternative routes where possible."

Retired publisher William Snyder, 78, who lives in Five Mile Drive, said: "I have not been stuck in it every morning and evening but it must be very frustrating.

"It is concerning that if my wife or I - or anyone else - needed to get to the hospital quickly at peak times, we may not be able to get there."