PARKING problems in Kidlington caused by police will not be stopped by proposed restrictions, according to frustrated residents.

Officers have been accused of being “bad neighbours” in a row over parking near Thames Valley Police’s headquarters in Oxford Road.

Despite having 364 parking spaces on-site, both marked and unmarked police vehicles park outside residential homes in Oxford Road’s service roads.

Michael Makepeace, 73, said the parking obstructed driveways and that police, who “continue to be bad neighbours”, should park solely at headquarters.

Our top stories

Oxfordshire County Council is currently considering imposing parking restrictions on the road and the surrounding area in an attempt to crack down on the problem. The proposal, put forward in August, wants to limit parking to three hours in the week from 10am to 2pm on most parts of the two service roads.

Mr Makepeace, a retired estate manager who has lived in Oxford Road for 35 years, said police had “accepted no responsibility”.

He added: “The proposed changes will not deal with the police problem, because they come for meetings, not all day.

“It doesn’t help the people living near the headquarters.”

He added: “How do the police police the police?”

In a letter to MP Nicola Blackwood, Mr Makepeace said residents needed parking permits “to protect us from the police”.

His concerns were echoed by David Betts, chairman of Kidlington Parish Council, who said: “The proposal will not solve the problem. The police do not do any enforcement in Kidlington.

“The council has got to get to grips with the parking problem and give us residential parking zones.”

It is the second time there have been plans to restrict the parking.

Plans were put forward in January to block parking on the eastern service road, but were dropped after objections from the public.

Oxford Road businesses said that by stopping people from parking outside homes, they would move and park outside shops instead.

Tina Cotterell is the owner of pet shop Alison’s Animals in Oxford Road. She said the second set of plans would help her business.

“It’s hopefully going to stop people parking outside and then going into Oxford all day, so it is helping me and my customers.

“But it means my staff will have to go out and move their cars during the day because we don’t have permits. I asked for some but the council said no.”

The Oxford Mail contacted Thames Valley Police, Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood for information about the proposal, but received no response at the time of going to press.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.