A NOTORIOUS stretch of the A40 will close for up to five nights from today to receive crucial work.

Both carriageways of the 1.1km section of the road from Barnard Gate towards Witney Bypass will be shut between 8pm and 6am, with diversions in place.

Oxfordshire County Council is spending £300,000 on improving the drainage, removing vegetation and installing lines.

Drivers have repeatedly vented their frustration at the state of the stretch over the past few months, branding it ‘dangerous’ and ‘appalling’.

The website FixMyStreet has had almost 450 reports about potholes near Barnard Gate, with one post describing them as ‘so bad that drivers have to slalom between the potholes and even then can’t avoid them’.

Liam Walker, Conservative county councillor for Hanborough and Minster Lovell, said: “This work is long overdue and I hope to see more of it."

The dual carriageway is one of the county’s most congested routes, with up to 30,000 vehicles using it every day.

It is provisionally included in the government’s Major Road Network plan, which would give the county council funding to make upgrades.

Housing planned along the A40 in West Oxfordshire have made the issue even more pressing, with a surge in the number of vehicles using the road expected in the coming years.

West Oxfordshire District Council’s Local Plan outlines plans to build 16,000 homes in the district by 2031, including 2,200 dwellings north of the A40 at Eynsham.