Latest crash on A34 caused hours of delays for clean-up operation

The A34 southbound was currently closed between the A415 at Marcham and the A4130 at Milton after a crash involving three cars and two lorries. The latest crash saw no injuries, but lorries had spilled their load meaning the road had to close for the clean-up operation. The road was closed from around 3.45am with one lane reopening at around 10.30am.

The whole road was open as normal just before 12pm. A34 crash (Image: Contributed) Before one of the lanes reopened, a National Highways spokesman said: "At approximately 3.45am we received reports of a collision involving three cars and two HGVs on the A34 southbound near Abingdon, between the A415 (Abingdon) and the A4130 (Didcot). The carriageway is currently closed to allow for vehicle recovery, and we have 29-minute delays and three miles of congestion.

We have a signed diversion in place and are advising drivers to follow the solid triangle. "You can also follow updates here https://nationalhighways.co.uk/travel-updates/travel-alerts/ and on our X feed @HighwaysEAST." Thames Valley Police didn't give any specific details about the crash, but said: "This was a damage only road traffic[2] collision."

A video from the scene showed the clean-up operation with lorries having spilled their load. In addition to that, one lane of the northbound carriageway was closed for a short time as a broken down vehicle was recovered. This was the second time the road has had to close due to a major crash in recent weeks.

On November 20, it was closed on the same side between Didcot and Chilton after a crash involving a car and a lorry. On that occasion the driver of the car was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital after suffering serious injuries. At the time, a statement from South Central Ambulance Service said: "We were contacted shortly after 1pm with the caller reporting a serious collision on the A34 southbound between Milton and Chilton involving a car and a lorry.

"We sent two ambulances, a paramedic team leader in a rapid response vehicle and the HIOWAA helicopter to the incident. The driver of the car had suffered life-threatening injuries." On November 27, the road was closed in both directions between Chilton and the M4 caused the need for emergency barrier repairs.

The lanes remained closed overnight to allow the repairs to be completed. At the end of last week, on November 28, one lane of the road was blocked on the southbound side between Peartree and Botley, just north of Oxford. This caused delays of around 20 minutes, but was soon cleared.

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About the author

Toby is a senior reporter who has a particular interest in covering planning and local government.

He joined in September 2024 having been a reporter at the Hampshire Chronicle for three years.

Toby studied at the University of Brighton and can be found on X through the handle @JournoToby

References

  1. ^ A34 crash: Video from scene of major crash shows clean-up operation (www.oxfordmail.co.uk)
  2. ^ traffic (www.oxfordmail.co.uk)
  3. ^ https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/subscribe/ (www.oxfordmail.co.uk)