HUNDREDS of thousands of pounds are to be spent on an estate in an attempt to deal with long-running parking problems.

In an effort to deal with the chronic issues in Blackbird and Greater Leys, Oxford City Council has funded the creation of three new car parks, with two more in the pipeline.

Councillors for the area also say ‘the time has come’ to start talking about introducing permit parking in areas near the Mini plant to deal with workers parking on residential streets.

Linda Smith, a city councillor for Blackbird Leys, said the council had spent half of the £1.2million ‘Great Estates’ fund trying to deal with parking issues across the city.

In the Leys 17 new spaces are planned for Briar Way and 13 in Field Avenue, following the creation of similar car parks in Blackbird Leys Road, Rampion Close and Jasmin Way.

Grass verges, which were previously used for 'informal parking' will be concreted over to create 'landscaped' car parks for residents.

Ms Smith said: "Parking close to home is becoming a bigger and bigger problem and I think this will help.

"We are lucky to have the green space on the estate that we do and people are parking on these verges anyway and turning them into a muddy bog."

The new schemes come after concerns were raised that the narrow, clogged streets of the estate may block access to people's homes for the emergency services when responding to urgent calls.

Some residents also claim that some of the streets are being used as ‘temporary’ car lots for people who are selling second hand vehicles online.

Gordon Roper, the chair of the Parish Council, said he counted 42 cars parked on Grenoble Road last week, thought to be linked to the issue.

Mr Roper added that most households have two or three cars each with one believed to have eight cars in total.

He added that he'd spoken to residents whose family found it hard to visit because of finding a space to park.

Mini workers are thought to use the streets because it is more convenient.

Steve Wrelton, the spokesman for the plant, said staff were again being reminded to park in onsite car parks.

Ms Smith said 'it might be time to start asking the question' about whether permit parking would make a difference but added: "I feel there won’t be much appetite for it at the moment."