A £1.3M road improvement scheme, which choked one of Oxford’s main roads for almost a year, is now giving Oxford cyclists the hump — quite literally.

Bikers using a new £18,800 cycle lane, which was built as part of Headington’s London Road improvement scheme, have to navigate a series of undulating bumps.

Oxfordshire County Council installed the 520-metre track as part of the new bus lane it created between Gipsy Lane and Osler Road.

Last night, an urban design expert branded the lane an “outrage”, while a former professional BMX stunt rider called the lane “dangerous” after he managed to make a 4ftleap while riding over the bumps.

Graham Smith, a former architecture and urban design lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, said: “I think it’s outrageous.

“This outrage has been created by people not thinking of cyclists.

“If cyclists are part of the answer to the transport problem in Oxford, one of the things we need to do in Headington is to make it as easy as possible for cyclists to move around.

“No-one has thought how pedestrians and cyclists would use this space which has been so expensively rebuilt.

“There is no need for any of this which, in reality, is a cynical insult to people using bicycles.”

County Hall said it consulted local cycling groups at all stages of the design.

Mr Smith, now a freelance consultant in urban design, said planners should have designed lower kerbs with a gentle slope to the kerbside to make the lane smooth.

Earlier this year, the scheme was criticised by residents who endured sleepless nights as workmen used road rollers until 3am to finish the project, which overran by two months.

On Thursday, the council is set to approve the £2.3m second phase of the London Road scheme.

James Styring, the chairman of Oxford cycling pressure group Cyclox, said: “It looks ridiculously bumpy and really uncomfortable.

“You wouldn’t have cars dipping up and down 6in every few feet on the road, so it’s thoughtless to expect cyclists to do that.

“It would put me off using it and I wouldn’t be surprised if it put off other users as well.”

Kieran Laybourn, 29, of Walton Street, Jericho, said: “This was a bit of fun and it made my ride home a little more exciting, but I would say ‘don’t try this at home’.

“The bumps are dangerous and it could be dangerous for kids to attempt that jump.”

Council spokesman Paul Smith said: “This effect is the result of meeting local access requirements and the natural topography of the road.

“This particular length of cycle lane has to cater for a number of residential accesses in close proximity to one another.

“The design met these requirements with the standard treatment of high and dropped kerbing.

“The proposals were consulted on with the local cycle groups at all stages of the design and their requirements were generally accommodated.”

The council said it had received one complaint about the scheme.

Do you know a bumpy stretch of road in the county? If so, contact Chris Walker on 01865 425425 or email cwalker@oxfordmail.co.uk