Headington residents have grouped together to make their streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

The group has been formed following criticism of the £500,000 Oxfordshire County Council scheme to make road conditions for cyclists and pedestrians safer in the area.

Some of the group’s suggestions so far include preparing a map of cycle-friendly routes through Headington and lobbying for better cycle tracks.

The group will also press for cycle lanes to be repainted and is thinking about organising a bike repair service at the suburb’s monthly farmers’ market.

Stephen Road resident Dom Francis said: “One of the issues we talked about was promoting cycling to work and to schools.

“In the UK as a whole the percentage of journeys carried out by bike is lower than the rest of Europe, so if we can encourage people to cycle to work more then hopefully we have done a good thing.

“There are also issues with people riding on pavements around the shops.”

The group held its first meeting last week.

It hopes to meet with local councillors to discuss ways in which it can influence safety on Headington’s roads in future.

Fellow member Simon Hunt, who is also a member of Oxford cycle campaign group Cyclox, said: “I hope Headington can benefit from having a group like this, and there are precedents in West Oxford.

“But there are an awful lot of things which need to be done.”

The county council started work on the New Headington Transport Improvements scheme last year.

But the project has come in for criticism from some residents.

They branded the revamped junction of London Road and Windmill Road one of the most dangerous in the city for cyclists.

The county said it was monitoring the junction in the light of the complaints.

It also said it had worked with residents to develop the transport improvements scheme and believed it was a good use of funding.