THE ENTRANCE to a new Tesco being built in Bicester could be an "accident blackspot", a traffic action group has warned.

BicesterTAG has called for a rethink to the road layout off the Oxford Road A41 heading into the new Tesco ahead of its opening on April 14.

The group fear the A41/Bicester Services roundabout will become an accident blackspot because traffic turning left off the roundabout, then going past Tesco, will have a separate lane and does not need to stop.

That means any cars, vans or lorries crossing the roundabout from any other direction will have to cross that free-flowing lane quickly to enter the superstore.

BicesterTAG co-chairman Sallie Wright said: "To my mind when you come off the Boundary Way, the A41 flyover, the traffic from there continues right the way round (to the left without stopping).

"Now, people coming from Bicester to the new Tesco have a very short distance to get over that left filter lane to get into Tesco.

"Something needs to be done, you have got HGVs coming round there from the depots and people coming round at a rate of knots.

"I can see either an accident or massive hold-ups happening."

The new Tesco superstore is being built opposite its existing site in Pingle Drive and will be bigger than the existing store, bringing new 120 jobs to the town.

It will be part of the 60,000sqm business park on the site including a hotel and a 1,837-space car park.

Tesco said it had consulted highways authority Oxfordshire County Council at length on the impact its store could have on A41 traffic.

A spokesman for the firm said: "The council concluded that the store and its proposed new junction were acceptable within the context of local traffic flows."

Plans have been proposed to create a hamburger-style roundabout ahead of a Bicester Village expansion replacing the existing Tesco store in Pingle Drive in the future.

Resident Roger Gledhill said: "I am extremely worried about the current road access to the new Tesco store on the A41.

"I am aware that the existing roundabout is going to be upgraded to a hamburger style, but I cannot see this being implemented before the new store opens.

"Traffic on the A41 from the railway bridge have a filter lane around the roundabout towards the motorway. Traffic from Oxford Road has two lanes going onto the A41, if any of these vehicles are going onto the new Tesco slip road they will have to cross the A41 lane quite close to the roundabout.

"In my view this will be an extremely hazardous manoeuvre and should be looked at urgently before the new Tesco opens."

Mrs Wright added: "The only way I can see to fix the problem would be to stop people from Boundary Way at the roundabout so they have to give way to traffic coming from Bicester."