Oxford prepares for major Botley Road closure after Easter break

• WATCH: ITV Meridian's Natalie Verney has been speaking to locals about the closure

Commuters are being warned they could face long delays getting into Oxford from tomorrow as one of the main roads into the city will be closed until the end of October.

The Botley Road carries traffic from the West of the county and will be closed at the rail bridge near the entrance to Oxford train station.

It's part of a £161 million station and railway upgrade. The rail bridge is to be replaced and a new entrance to the station will be built.

The works, by Network Rail include rerouting utility cables along the road. 

The road will also be closed to emergency services vehicles.

Major diversions will be in place and traffic will be forced onto the already congested ring road. 

Buses run by Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach have will be affected with new timetables and a turning circle created near the station.  

The road will remain open to cyclists and pedestrians but they will have to use alternative routes to cross the railway line.

Businesses along Oxford's Botley Road say they have already seen a big drop in customers.

They say there's been a lack of planning and consideration and they're calling for compensation.

Richard Griffiths, Head of Project Communications, Network Rail said: "As a publicly funded organisation, like Network Rail is, we don't offer compensation whilst we're doing our rail works, unless it's very specific circumstances.

"But what we can do is help to promote the fact that businesses are still open, to make the traffic flow as freely as we can working with the highways authority. And it's also worth mentioning the businesses who are directly impacted by the closure, may be eligible for a temporary reduction in their business rates, and there's some details about that on the city council's website."

The county council said it will work closely with Network Rail and its other partners, such as the bus companies, "to keep the city moving during this period.”

It is expected that the other main routes into Oxford such as Woodstock and Banbur  Roads will get busier.

Limited roadworks will be allowed on these roads to help mitigate this.

Network Rail has urged people to "understand the impact" on them and plan ahead.