Four-way traffic lights in place at Frideswide Square today are causing long delays for weekend drivers.

The traffic lights have been installed for six hours today from 7.45am to 2pm as the council repairs a "very small" area of damaged pavement.

But traffic is building up as far back as Beaumont Street and the other way along Botley Road as drivers struggle to get through.

The damaged stones - which represent 0.1 per cent of the square, according to Oxfordshire County Council - are being replaced with tarmac as a temporary solution to the problem.

County Councillor David Nimmo Smith, Cabinet member for transport, said the damage to the roundabout outside the Royal Oxford Hotel was caused by drivers.

He said: "We have seen a number of vehicles coming from Hythe Bridge Street who turn left at the roundabout over running the pavement resulting in damage.
 
“The work that we are doing today is a temporary measure while we finalise the options for a longer term solution, which we expect to implement later in the summer.
 
“The affected part of the square is absolutely tiny when viewed as part of the total surface area of Frideswide.

"The scheme as a whole has been a success since December.”