PARKING problems in Blackbird Leys could be solved with double yellow lines but there is not enough money to pay for them, say councillors.

Since the Leys Pool & Leisure Centre opened in January, residents have complained that traffic in the area has worsened.

The £9.2m centre on Pegasus Road has a car park which is free for three hours but drivers are instead parking along the road, causing queues and delays as traffic cannot get past.

As well as Pegasus Road, visitors are also leaving their cars on Windale Avenue and Field Avenue.

As previously reported by the Oxford Mail, the problem is also affecting the pool’s neighbours, who struggle to park outside their homes. This is despite the fact residents-only parking spots have been built on the grass verges.

Sheila Lewis, 83, said the number of cars makes it difficult to get in and out of the spaces, leaving her anxious to drive at the weekends when the pool is busiest.

Long Ground resident Freda Bird said: “It’s a nightmare. It can take 15 minutes just to get down Windale Avenue and it’s not exactly a long road.

“It’s just ridiculous. If I know there’s a function on at the leisure centre I drive a mile out of the way just to avoid driving through the estate – it’s quicker.”

The 45-year-old canteen worker added: “They need to put double yellow lines down so people can’t park on the corners and opposite the bus stops. They should be all the way up Windale Avenue and Pegasus Road.”

That is what has been proposed by the Blackbird Leys Parish Council, to ease congestion.

Chairman Gordon Roper said: “I don’t know why people don’t park in the car park – it’s free for the first three hours.

“This issue should have been sorted out before the pool opened.

“It’s a pinch-point and the buses are having a job to get around the corners because of the parked cars.

“The issue is who’s going to pay for it.”

Steve Curran, the area’s Oxfordshire county councillor, said a lack of funding was stopping council officers from moving forward with the proposal.

He said: “We would like to do something about the parking problem.

“Yellow lines are a distinct possibility.

“But the county council officers concerned tell me there’s no money in the budget to do anything at this time.

“We will be pushing for them to try to achieve this but it’s not going to happen in the short term.

“We will be looking at ways to do that, but it won’t happen right now.

“This is what you get when you starve local authorities of cash.”

He added: “I would implore people to park in the car park – that’s what it’s there for.”