AN unofficial "park and ride" has developed in Iffley Fields due to the lack of parking restrictions, a campaign group has said.

Iffley Fields Parking Action Group has called on Oxfordshire County Council to create a controlled parking zone (CPZ) to stop streets in the area being clogged by commuters.

Almost 400 people have signed a petition requesting a CPZ, which the parking action group claims would increase safety and cut pollution.

Co-chairman Chris Terry said the problem stemmed from Iffley Fields being the closest area to the city centre without any parking restrictions.

The 64-year-old said: "The streets that were perhaps further away from the city in the past would have been lukewarm on a CPZ but not any more.

"There are a lot of commuters, a lot of people from adjacent CPZs who are perhaps reluctant to pay for the permits.

"We have boys and staff from Magdalen College School and the Westgate redevelopment could make it worse if people come into shop and park here.

"We have been meeting Oxfordshire County Council on and off for at least two years. We are constantly onto them.

"There are pollution and safety issues because you get cars parking in them middle of the road with the engine running to unload as they cannot park in front of their home."

Mr Terry said a CPZ would only cost £3,000 and urged the county council to go ahead with it.

The county council has suggested more CPZs could be rolled out in the coming years.

Neighbour Krista Beighton, who also lives in Stratford Street, spoke at the full meeting of the county council on Tuesday calling for action to be taken.

She said the area had been excluded from the original CPZ scheme because of worries that some streets would only have parking on one side, which would have cut the number of spaces.

She said: "Parking here is intolerable, you often cannot find a space near your home.

"Often I get home after working a late shift and have literally nowhere to put my car.

"I drive around the streets and end up parking on double yellow lines because there is nowhere else to leave my car.

"It's also very unsafe, all these extra cars make it really dangerous for the kids coming to and from school.

"The county council have said they have no money to allocate to CPZs and that is what we are challenging.

"We want them to rethink their budgets and prioritise our CPZ."

Last month county council spokesman Paul Smith said the authority had not identified any specific areas to roll out new CPZs at the moment buy would continue to prioritise areas of the city where on-street parking spaces were under pressure.