THE prospect of a court battle over Oxfordshire County Council's decision to charge Oxford residents for parking in their own streets is looming large.

A legal challenge could soon be mounted by Oxford City Council on the basis that County Hall's consultation on parking permits was flawed.

Jeremy Thomas, the city council's head of legal services, will submit a report to party leaders as early as next week. The city has already taken advice from counsel, with the legal options expected to be put to the full city council on October 2.

The Conservative-controlled county council cabinet voted unanimously on Tuesday to charge residents in Oxford £40-a-year for parking permits.

The nine councillors, who all represent areas outside the city, decided to go ahead with the proposals even after a city-wide consultation showed two thirds of respondents opposed the plan.

City council leader John Goddard said the prospect of the city being locked in an expensive legal showdown with Oxfordshire County Council would be damaging for both local authorities.

But Mr Goddard made clear that the city was prepared to carry out its threat to turn to the law.

He said: "There is a strongly arguable case that the consultation was seriously flawed. We have taken counsel opinion on whether they got it right. And I think they may not have got it right.

"It could well appear that the county council made up its mind in advance and did not consult as they are required to do.

"If it came to a confrontation, I do not think that would be good for either council. We could be in court which would be very expensive."

Mr Goddard said he was disappointed that the city's appeal to County Hall for a cooling off period had been ignored.

"The recent public meeting meant the county council could be in no doubt about the strength of feeling, leaving aside the strength of the arguments against them going ahead."

But Richard Dix, the county council's head of transport, said arrangements for introducing the scheme were being finalised, with the new system coming into place early next year.

He said: "We need first to complete the legal processes for making the traffic orders that bring in the charging provisions. When all is ready to go, likely to be early next year, the first payments that residents will have to make will be when their permits come up for annual renewal."

Mr Dix said the expected £480,000 income would only be spent on enforcement or, if there were a surplus, on transport in Oxford.

County council leader Keith Mitchell said the income and expenditure of the scheme should be transparent, so that people "can be satisfied that it has not been spent on supporting the council tax".

Opponents of the charges said residents would simply refuse to pay.

Georgina Gibbs, of Saxon Way in Headington, said: "People won't pay and they (the county council) are going to look really stupid."

In zones where more than two permits per household can be held, the charge will be £80 a year for a third permit and £120 a year for a fourth and any further permits.

County Hall says the charges compare well with other cities, such as York, where permits cost £86, and Bath, where they are £55.

Cllr David Robertson, the county council's cabinet member for transport, said: "We had a long hard look at the consultation and balanced that against the need for fairness across Oxfordshire. Things came back from the consultation that needed our attention and we acted upon them."

The county council claims it had asked the city council if it would be prepared to meet all or some of the cost of operating residents' parking schemes to allow parking permits to remain free-of-charge but the city council had declined.