CYCLISTS will be invited to trial an invention to make Oxford’s roads safer.

City councillor David Henwood is arranging a test track where people can try out his ‘pink bobbies’, designed to prevent drivers from encroaching into cyclists’ space.

He wants to place the eye-catching blocks on certain sections of road in the city, to act as a physical barrier between cycle lanes and roads.

Mr Henwood hopes to temporarily install them at St Gregory the Great Catholic School playground in April, and wants cyclists’ feedback.

He said: “Our city is medieval and roads are narrow, and with high volumes of traffic, I think we should look at systems to protect cyclists better.

“We are a cycling city and we are simply not providing safe means of getting in and out of Oxford.”

The pink bobbies, made from recycled car tyres, are a variation on a cycle lane segregator known as an ‘armadillo’. These already exist on Donnington Bridge in Oxford, off Iffley Road.

Mr Henwood, who teaches design and technology at St Greg’s, said: “As a cyclist who has lived in Oxford for most of my life, the only time I truly feel safe is on Donnington Bridge. They have a proven track record there.

“I don’t see pink bobbies being on whole lengths of road, but we can identify hotspots.”

An exact date has not yet been confirmed for the test, but it will be at some point during the Easter Holidays.

Both adults and children can try out the system, and compare it against an alternative offered by Yorkshire company Rosehill Highways, which manufacture rubber traffic-calming structures.

Oxford Mail readers have previously expressed concern about the pink bobbies, including that they might make it difficult for cyclists to overtake each other and could be dangerous if hidden by snow or standing water.

Mr Henwood said such critique will help to refine the design, adding: “That kind of feedback is really valuable.

“The object of this test track is to show people what’s available. Without feedback, we can’t progress.”

The Labour councillor visited Parliament to pitch pink bobbies to Andrew Gwynne, shadow secretary of state for communities and local government, and said the MP was ‘excited about the idea’.

In July he launched a petition calling for Oxfordshire County Council to back pink bobbies, which has so far gained 81 signatures.

Visit you.38degrees.org.uk/p/cyclelane to sign it.