BANNERS protesting against plans to build a probation centre in Oxford have been taken down by the county council.

The two banners, which were designed and made by schoolchildren, were attached to railings near the railway bridge in Botley Road.

Both banners were put up weeks ago to protest against a plan to create a probation centre in Mill Street.

The community is worried about criminals walking along the residential street every week to report to the centre.

At 9.30am on Wednesday, the protest signs were removed by two Oxfordshire County Council workers and taken to a council depot in Deddington.

Amanda Whiting, 42, whose sons Thomas, nine, and Gabriel, seven, helped make one of the banners, said: “It seems a bit ridiculous. The banners have been there for ages.

“It’s a shame. We have a right to our opinion.”

Thomas said: “How can we tell people how we feel now?”

Mother-of-two Jude Raikes, 37, said: “The banners weren’t offensive — they were just telling people they don’t want a probation centre at the end of the road.”

A council spokesman said the banners were removed because the protesters did not have permission to put them up.