Dilapidated cycle lanes must be included in road maintenance programmes if people are to continue to get on their bikes, according to an Oxford church minister.

The Rev James Bloice-Smith, minister of Headington Baptist Church, urged city councillors to put pressure on Oxfordshire County Council to help improve road markings for the thousands of cyclists in the city.

He said: "Cyclists aren't happy with pedestrians and cars, cars are mad with pedestrians and cyclists, and pedestrians feel pretty intimidated.

"All three groups don't seem to know what they should be doing. I feel endangered on a bike when buses cut me up and when pedestrians step into a cycle lane.

"Cycle lane provision could be improved, but I also think we need more education so that people know exactly where they should be."

He said some motorists pulled into cycle lanes to get past, rather than be held up behind another vehicle waiting to turn right.

"In some cases, like Windmill Road, it is too narrow, and some people even park their cars in the cycle lanes, which most of the time are useless," he said, adding that cycle lanes on the pavement were intimidating and confusing for pedestrians.

Mr Bloice-Smith said: "Pedestrians don't always recognise cycle lanes exist, and are unaware if they are walking on one."

He showed councillors slides of problem sites, including the corner of Headley Way and London Road, where cycle lane signs on the pavement had worn off.

His slides included one of outside Headington Junior School where a cycle lane meets a pedestrian crossing, and the cycle track appears to end at a junction.

Mr Bloice-Smith said: "Does that mean cyclists are meant to get off and push? Similarly at the top of Latimer Road there are dotted lines and it is not clear whether a cyclist should stop or keep going."

Stephen Tall, Headington city council member, said: "I have asked county council officers for a map of the cycle paths in Oxford, specifically Headington and Marston.

"What does worry me is that what may have been regarded as one adequate cycle route clearly isn't because it runs straight into a lamp post. When the county assesses its road maintenance it needs to look at the designated cycle tracks."