FINES could be brought in for Bicester Village shoppers parking on residential streets to avoid a repeat of Black Friday chaos, police said.

Ahead of an expected shopping surge for the Boxing Day sales, the retail outlet sat down with police and Oxfordshire County Council to thrash out plans for December 26.

New electronic signs to improve navigation to Park and Ride locations and warn about car park capacity and congestion will be in place, Thames Valley Police added.

Traffic operators that marshalled during the 2012 London Olympic Games have also been drafted in. 

Bicester Village has also applied for temporary traffic orders which, on busy days, could lead to fines for shoppers parking in residential areas or cars that are obstructing being towed away, according to the force.

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Sergeant Steve Willis, from Bicester police station, said: “There is a complete willingness from all parties to work together to improve the congestion around Bicester Village during very busy shopping days.

“We saw the problems first hand on Black Friday and have listened to the feedback from the community.

“I believe that we have now got the foundations in place to tackle these issues.”

Both the traffic management company and the digital signs were used for the first time last Saturday, the police said.

Thousands of people descended onto Bicester Village for bargains on the last Friday of November - dubbed Black Friday.

Police officers were brought in to man the gates and traffic on the M40 was backed up for miles, causing chaos for Bicester residents heading home from work and school.

But now authorities have said they have made plans for the next expected wave of shoppers on Boxing Day in a bid to avoid a repeat of the trouble.


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