TAXI drivers have been told not to use a popular pick-up point in East Oxford so that delivery drivers can make drop-offs until 8pm.

Cabbies have been using the loading bay in front of Sainsbury’s on the Plain Roundabout for years from 6.30pm onwards - the time when its use as a loading bay has always ended.

However, after improvement works on the Plain in 2015, it came to light that a 1984 ruling by Oxford City Council only permitted the bay’s use as a taxi rank from 8pm onwards.

Oxfordshire County Council officers were worried that this left a confusing grey area between 6.30pm and 8pm, so they launched a consultation about extending the loading bay hours to 8pm.

The City of Oxford Licensed Taxi Association (COLTA) quickly responded, telling the council that its members frequently used the layby from 6.30pm, and that if it was being used by delivery drivers instead that could damage business.

The county responded that COLTA had misunderstood the proposal, because, according to the 1984 rule, taxis had only ever been allowed to pick customers up there from 8pm onwards.

Yesterday, the county’s cabinet member for environment David Nimmo-Smith sided with the officers and extended the loading bay hours to 8pm, ‘to help facilitate safe and efficient movement of traffic’.