Looking out of the window at around 11 am, there was a queue of traffic heading up West St Helen Street. One driver said she had not moved for 15 minutes. This was the first traffic problem in the street after weeks of relative quiet during the road closure, and it occurred during half term, when traffic is usually lighter.
On this occasion, the disruption was caused by an accident or medical emergency.
Traffic tailed back along Bridge Street, Stert Street, The Vineyard, and Stratton Way.
Within about an hour the incident had been dealt with and traffic was moving freely again. For a while, a person from the company who look after the car parks on behalf of Vale of White Horse District Council took on the role of directing traffic at the junction of West St Helen Street.
The problem was caused by the dark grey car which you can see in your photo next to the fire engine – it came down Stratton Way and turned left onto the High Street, i.e. against the one-way traffic. The driver then seemed not to understand people telling him to turn round. I don’t know what subsequently happened to need the fire brigade called out.