A £50,000 rising bollard in Kidlington High Street has broken for the second time in a month after a van reversed into its control panel.

A company van delivering food to Greggs Bakery in the High Street reversed into the bollard’s call box, just a week after it was fixed for a “maintenance”

problem by Cherwell District Council.

The van collision, which caused £3,000 worth of damage according to local councillors, has left the bollard unable to rise.

Councillor Neil Prestidge said the bollard, which is supposed to pedestrianise the high street from 10am to 4pm, is out of action because the control panel was damaged.

The control panel is used by drivers to communicate with the bollard’s operators.

The Conservative Cherwell district councillor for Kidlington South said: “The [vehicle] hit the control panel and it was only on by one bolt so it was swinging from side to side. It was a Greggs van delivering food to the shop.”

He said he had discussed the issue with fellow councillor Carmen Griffiths, adding: “We are looking at how to resolve the issue and a quote has gone to Paul Armond, a street scene officer from Cherwell District Council.

“I don’t know when it will be fixed but I expect it to be fixed soon.”

The district council installed the bollard on February 9 after two years of delays, including red-tape wrangles and a vandal attack in December.

According to Mr Prestidge, the control panel was already having problems in its “induction loop,” which is supposed to shut the bollard down if a car is parked nearby for more than two hours.

He had already planned a meeting to fix it, and said that the van drove into the bollard just a day before the meeting.

Mr Prestidge said: “There is a problem with the induction loop which detects metals vehicles, where the vehicle parks near it for more than two hours it automatically goes down, and then out of nowhere this problem has come along.”

Disabled Kidlington resident Glyn Ayto, who uses a walking stick and walks down the street every day, said he was concerned safety fears would remain unresolved.

The 82-year-old said: “It is not sustainable enough to start with because obviously it is not strong enough.

“It is a bit of a mess.

“I think after all the money they have spent on it they are not getting anywhere.

“It has always concerned me because I walk down that street and now I am disabled it is even more of a worry.”

Greggs confirmed that a “minor incident” occurred involving the bollard and that its insurers had been notified.

Kidlington Parish Council member Maurice Billington said: “I want to get it fixed for the people of Kidlington. The council are doing their best.”

District council spokesman Tony Ecclestone said its officers were arranging for the bollard to be repaired.