On Friday, I cycled along Barns Road in Cowley from the junction with Bartholomew Road to Between Towns Road.

Along the way I took photos of FIVE cars parked squarely in the cycle lane forcing me to swerve onto the road into heavy traffic.

Two cars in particular were parked directly in the yellow hatched area by the cycle ‘lay bys’.

These lay bys have small traffic islands which are designed to separate cyclists from traffic. That keeps cyclists safer and gives traffic the opportunity to overtake cyclists.

By blocking the lay bys, not only did these inconsiderate car drivers deprive me of the safety of the lay by, they also deprived other drivers of the opportunity to safely over take me.

This is a perennial problem in Barns Road. Please, please stop parking illegally and obstructing the cycle path. It is anti-social behaviour, and an inconvenience, not only to cyclists, but also to your fellow drivers.

I wish this problem were confined to Barns Road but it is not: driving in cycle lanes and parking in them are not unknown in other parts of Oxford.

It might be nice if the parking authorities did as they promised on the last Cowley walk about for police, councillors and council officers with the public and actually enforced the parking restrictions on Barns Road.

HAZEL DAWE

Oxfordshire Green Party