A consultation exercise to look at closing London Road in Headington has been labelled a "waste of money" and "a joke".

Headington city councillor David Rundle has condemned Oxfordshire County Council over the process and residents of Headington and Marston, which would be most affected by traffic forced off the road, said consultation on putting in bus lanes and pedestrian crossings -- or closing a short section to cars in the rush hours -- had passed them by.

On Monday, Croft Road resident Michael Haines, 64, will present a petition to county highways officers bearing more than 700 signatures opposing the closure plan.

He said: "They're going mad in Marston -- potentially this is disastrous for people living there. They're up in arms -- not only because of what could happen, but because the county council has not told them."

London Road is the key route into the city centre from the east and the M40 and offers access to most of the city's hospitals and Oxford Brookes University.

Mr Rundle, a Liberal Democrat, said the county council should spend the money on park-and-ride services rather than "inconclusive studies".

He added: "What's needed is a radical change, but moving the problem somewhere else is not the solution."

"The consultation has been a joke -- actually, if I could find something humorous in it, I would call it a joke. This is a complete waste of money and a dead end, when we don't have much time."

A county council spokesman said the study and consultation was important, because of the growing pressure on roads as a result of the expansion of the John Radcliffe Hospital complex and other developments bringing jobs to the area.