Residents win parking zone battle

The residents parked round Councillor Hudspeth's house

A residents group in Oxford has won its fight against plans for a controlled parking zone after a protest which led them to park in a councillor's drive.

Members of the area's residents' association parked in the drive of Councillor Ian Hudspeth, who is responsible for parking.

Oxfordshire County Council announced that it would not recommend including Iffley Fields in the new zone.

It denied it was influenced by Tuesday's protest.

Paul Smith, Oxfordshire County Council, said: "The concerns of residents were heard through three separate and detailed consultation processes.

"The decision to recommend Iffley Fields should be omitted was taken quite some time before this morning's protest."

The council wanted permit-only parking in designated areas in the city.

The residents parked around Mr Hudspeth's house and on his drive and spoke to him about why they opposed the controlled parking zone.

Dr Amar Latif from the residents' association said: "It's brilliant news that Iffley Fields has been dropped from the scheme.

"It's unfortunate that it took such drastic action for the county council to finally listen to our concerns, but we're glad that they have now done so."

Transport officers recommended that the council goes ahead with introducing controlled parking in Magdalen Road and Divinity Road, Oxford.