MORE concerns have been raised over proposals to build a 2.2km heating pipe through the middle of Headington as residents have their last chance to comment on the £14.8m scheme.

Plans for the pipe connecting the John Radcliffe and Churchill Hospitals are due to be decided at the beginning of next month and the 17 week-project could be begin as soon if permission is granted.

But fears over access to houses and a care home in the area as well as increased traffic have been lodged by residents while the work is carried out.

Bosses at St Luke's Hospital, a care home in Latimer Road included in the scheme, urged the contractor Vital Energi to keep its entrance clear.

The care home's chief executive Richard Burden said 24/7 access to Latimer Road was "vitally important" and hoped verbal assurances from Vital Energi would be enforced as a condition of planning.

He said the company assured him one end of Latimer Road would always be open and that work around the hospital's main entrance would at no point block access.

He said: "It's definitely a concern for us, we need ambulances to be able to access our road all the time.

"We have been assured by Vital Energi that this will be achieved by giving us access from the All Saints Road when Latimer Road is blocked at the London Road end and by infilling in short sections to maintain access as they work towards our main entrance.

"The impression we were initially given was that the work would be done in 100 yard sections and therefore block the hospital."

If approved, work will be done in sections of 120 metres, which will take 15 days each.

Construction will be carried by three teams of workers, the first beginning in All Saints Road and heading south towards the Churchill Hospital.

Team two will start at London Road going north up Sandfield Road, with the third starting from the same place but going south down Latimer Road.

Dr Richard Colling, who lives in Nursery Close off Lime Walk - which will see its junctions with All Saints Road and London Road affected - said access to his house would be "severely disrupted."

In his comment on the application he said: "I am extremely concerned about the length of time that access to my road will be disrupted.

"The only access to my home is via Lime Walk and this will be severely disrupted with temporary traffic lights, reduced traffic flow, diverted traffic and likely congestion."

City councillor for the area, Ruth Wilkinson, said the construction management plan put together by Vital Energi was a "work in progress" and urged residents to comment with their views.

She said: "Vital Energi has provided a document which sets out a timetable and locations of each part of the trench dig, and it also specifies what other traffic management may be necessary at important junctions including London Road and All Saints junction in Lime Walk.

"It is still a work in progress so if anyone has some good ideas how to make signage better or consider other options, the Headington councillors like to hear from them, so that we can pass on their ideas to the County Council."

Residents can comment on the application until the end of today by searching for 16/01565/FUL on the Oxford City Council website.