Yesterday morning’s rush hour ground to a halt with two almost simultaneous collisions on the A419 at the Commonhead roundabout and on the A420 at Faringdon.

At Commonhead the drivers of two cars escaped with only minor injuries but delays ocurred when the road was closed to deal with the incident.

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said: “We were called to a two-vehicle road traffic collision on the A419 just prior to Junction 15 at 7.23am by the ambulance, who were reporting minor injuries. The collision involved a grey Skoda Octavia and Red Suzuki Swift.”

Shortly before 8am traffic on the A420 was turned back when Thames Valley police were forced to close the road near Faringdon after a car ended up upside down in a ditch when a Mercedes and Vauxhall Corsa collided.

A Thames Valley Police spokeswoman said: “One of the cars was in a ditch. The road was closed and traffic was being turned back.”

A South Central Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: “Three ambulance crews and an ambulance officer were sent to the scene and two patients were taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital.”

Anyone with information on either of the incidents should call police on the non emergency number 101.

l Bus gates to open: See page 14