A THREE-vehicle crash in icy conditions prompted a lengthy road closure outside Harwell Science and Innovation Campus.

The A4185 Newbury Road was shut between the junction with Reading Road at Rowstock, and the Fermi Avenue roundabout near Chilton. 

It is thought the crash happened at about 4pm on Sunday, and the closure was not lifted until after 10pm. 

The road is now open to traffic.

Herald Series:

Dotted line showing the closure. Pic: Google Maps/ The AA

Residents in Harwell reported on social media that the road was icy all day and drivers had been getting stuck in snow drifts.

A video posted by Ian Turner on Facebook showed drivers struggling in poor visibility as snow swirled across the road.

The road was blocked both ways after the three-vehicle collision, but it is not yet clear if anyone was injured.

One man wrote on Facebook: "Snow drifts have driven too much snow on to the opposite side of the road from the North Drive houses and made the road unpassable/ dangerous.

"I went up there at 2.30pm and it was awful, people [were] getting stuck and lots of large areas of snow jutting out in to the road, all the way up to the campus roundabout."

Another woman said she had to turn back after braving the road, adding: "My partner helped an elderly man who got stuck.

"Police were there at the time...very dangerous."