TRIAL closures of two notorious rat runs in Oxford will not now go ahead because of fears they could cost lives.

For years people in Headington have campaigned for action to reduce the amount of traffic taking short cuts between Old Road and London Road.

And just three months ago Oxfordshire County Council agreed in principle to shut Lime Walk and Latimer Road, which link into Stapleton Road, at their junctions with London Road.

But the authority has now decided the controversial proposal is not viable.

Head of transport Steve Howell said: “Our best available solutions were only just about workable and provide far less turning space and more of a requirement to reverse than would be ideal for larger vehicles.”

He said both the ambulance service and fire and rescue service had told the council the road closures would extend response times to emergency calls which could cost lives.

Mr Howell added: “I do not consider the potential benefits offered by the closures, mainly the enjoyment of better amenity by local residents, are sufficient to justify the risk.”

Concerns were also raised by bus operators about displaced traffic.

Mr Howell said a range of options for traffic management in the area would be drawn up for consideration by the transport decisions committee on January 7.

Oxford city councillor David Rundle urged that the opportunity to improve the traffic situation was not lost.

He said: “It does sound as if this plan is dead in the water.

“We should now look at the bigger picture and emphasise getting the best possible set of options.”

The reaction to the decision not to close the road was mixed.

Patrick Coulter, secretary of the Highfield Residents’ Association, said: “There are lots of estates in this area where they have had some closures.

“We don’t understand why this is any different.

“If they want to reduce through traffic, which they say they do, they need to work out the impact on other areas. I do not see how they can do that without a trial closure.”

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith said the rat-runs degraded the quality of life of residents and were a danger to children and elderly people.

But Richard Hamer, 74, of Old Road, welcomed the county’s latest decision.

He said: “People talk about rat-runs but they are really just people finding other ways through and I do not begrudge them that.

“If you take people off certain roads, they go to other roads and the other roads suffer, and we believe they would suffer disproportionately in this case.”