A MAIN road closed for a year after torrential rain caused a major landslide finally reopened yesterday following a £1m repair project.

The A4183, formerly the main route between Oxford and Abingdon, has been closed since December 20 last year when a 60-metre section between Hinksey Hill and Bagley Wood collapsed.

The damage was caused after heavy rain in November last year which washed away the sand-based road foundations.

Anthony Healy, who owns the nearby Westwood Hotel, said: “It is very welcome, and it is going to be interesting getting used to looking both ways to get onto the road again.

“Our business definitely suffered without the passing trade, so it is very good news from that point of view.”

County councillor for Kennington and Radley Bob Johnston said: “They have done an absolutely splendid job, and it will be really good for Kennington, which has had 8,000 vehicles a day going through it while the road has been closed, about 4,000 more than we usually get.”

County council cabinet member for transport David Nimmo Smith said: “It has been an enormous task to undertake all the necessary survey work, come up with the solution and then the physical repair work itself.

“I congratulate our highways department.

“They have been meticulous in making sure a job of immense scale and complexity has been successfully completed.

“We appreciate that local people, bus users and others have been significantly affected. The sheer scale of the underlying problem meant this was never going to be a quick task.

“However, we said we would have the job done by the end of 2013 and exactly 12 months on from the original closure we are now able to reopen it. Above all, I am delighted for the local residents and I thank them for their patience.”