NEAR-CONSTANT gridlock on Oxford’s roads could be reduced by using cable cars to get around the city, according to Oxford’s Green Party.

The party’s group on the city council said it wanted to spend £25,000 on an aerial transport study ‘to look at some of the innovations in low carbon, aerial urban public transport to see whether such scheme might be suitable for parts of Oxford,’ at Monday’s budget meeting.

Councillors decided against the measure, which was proposed as an amendment to the ruling Labour Party’s budget on Monday.

Councillor Dick Wolff said the plan would be worth looking at as part of other plans.

He said: “Not a lot of them look terribly sensible but some might have mileage.

“I’m particularly concerned about the John Radcliffe Hospital site, which is not functioning properly.

“It’s one of those areas where expertise is needed and needed fairly quickly.”

He added that ‘getting tourist buses out of the city centre’ might be helped by any scheme and that it might ‘address some of the park and ride problems’ which the city faces.

Both the Greens and the Liberal Democrats said they were in favour of scrapping any expansion of the Seacourt Park and Ride site at the meeting on Monday.

Work to alleviate problems at the JR form part of Oxfordshire County Council’s £12.5m Access to Headington scheme.

The council was due to start a new stage of that plan last month – but it has ground to halt as the council awaits extra funding to continue the work.

It expects a decision on that next month.