The notorious Cutteslowe Walls which once divided a north Oxford housing estate are to be commemorated with a Blue Plaque.

The Cutteslowe Walls are finally demolished

The Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board has agreed to erect the sign to provide a permanent reminder of the walls which once segregated council tenants from those living in private houses.

A ceremony to unveil the plaque will be held on Thursday, March 9, to celebrate the anniversary of the demolition of the walls in 1959.

Residents have been asked to contribute £5 towards the £500 cost of the plaque.

Ann Spokes Symonds, of Davenant Road, north Oxford, who was the first person to walk through the gap when the walls were finally pulled down, proposed the plaque.

The former ward councillor said: "We have had great support and encouragement for this project, especially from people who have had to live much of their lives in the shadow of these notorious walls.

"They believe that without this plaque few people would, in time, remember where the walls stood."

She added that the precise location of the plaque has not yet been disclosed.

Some councillors were not in favour of the idea of the plaque, but said they would not stand in the way of residents.

Alan Armitage, Liberal Democrat city councillor for Summertown, said: "I don't think a plaque is necessary and many people will wonder why we are still going on about it.

"There is no continuing class barrier in the area and I feel we have succeeded in integrating the community. However, there are still disadvantaged people in Cutteslowe who deserve more help than they are getting.

"We shouldn't forget the walls -- they were an embarrassment -- but I don't think that is likely as long as Oxford's history continues to be studied."

In 2004, Mr Armitage said highways staff were keeping alive the class divide by resurfacing only Carlton Road, on the private estate, or Wolsey Road, on the council side of the divide, instead of treating them as one road.

The city council denied its policy had anything to do with the estate history, blaming the way budgets were allocated for the difference in road surfaces.

Jean Fooks, Liberal Democrat councillor for North ward, saidd: "I'm not wildly enthusiastic about the idea of a blue plaque but local residents have not objected."

Eda Forbes, secretary of the Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board, said: "The plaque will refer to the demolition itself."