DRIVERS have been warned to expect more congestion on the A34 because cold weather has delayed the completion of an £11m resurfacing scheme.

The work on the five-mile stretch, from the Pear Tree interchange, north of Oxford, to Weston-on-the-Green, near Bicester, was due to finish last Monday after beginning last September.

But the Highways Agency said this week that it was now aiming to complete the scheme a month later than expected.

Martin Dellar, a spokesman for the agency, said: "The weather has been absolutely terrible and that has meant that we have been unable to lay the new concrete because it has been too cold for it to set.

"Barring another winter freeze, we will be off the site before the Easter weekend, which starts on April 14.

"We needed to carry out additional work last weekend because we had been delayed by the weather."

The decision to resurface the road followed years of campaigning by residents living in Kidlington and surrounding areas for a quieter surface.

Residents have been pressing for the change since the road was laid in 1990.

The depth of the replacement surface is being increased from a 35mm 'cushion' to an 80mm cushion.

As well as the A34 roadworks, drivers across Oxford are having to put up with a series of delays on their journey to and from work.

There are roadworks on the A4142 Eastern bypass for the installation of a new crash barrier following the fatal crash which killed four people last May.

The works are taking place between the junction with Horspath Driftway and Kiln Lane until March 26.

Roadworks are also causing delays on the A40 between the Eynsham roundabout and the Witney turn-off, and there will be temporary traffic lights until May 28.

Work on the eastbound carriageway of the A40, between the Cutteslowe roundabout and the Headington roundabout, lasts until April 25.