FRUSTRATION is mounting as almost a dozen street lights in Bicester have been out of action for weeks.

About 10 lights have been broken in three roads in the town – many of them at pedestrian crossings.

Street lights close to Langford Village School are among those broken, sparking fears for children's safety.

Bicester town councillor Les Sibley said something needed to be done about the broken lights in Manorsfield Road, Peregrine Way and Buckingham Road before someone got hurt.

He said: "The areas in which the lights are out are dangerous situations, especially in the weather we are having at the moment with terrible fog.

"Along Manorsfield Road it is especially bad as you cannot see the pedestrians using the footway or at the bus stop outside Sainsbury's, especially when it is getting late and it's pitch black.

"These are very bus roads and people are crossing all the time - it's mayhem."

Mr Sibley said he reported the broken lights to Oxfordshire County Council highways department on December 20 and was told it was being dealt with.

However, despite being told the problem had been sorted by contractors Scottish and Southern Electric (SSE) on January 16, many lights are still not working.

Mr Sibley added: "There are three out on Manorsfield Road but I believe these have not yet been adopted by Oxfordshire County Council and are the responsibility of Sainsbury's as its their site.

"My concern is that you have these lights right over pedestrian crossings right opposite where you go into the car park and it gets very difficult to spot people, I would worry if someone steps out.

"It is a health and safety issue."

A Sainsbury’s spokeswoman said: “We are working with contractors to investigate the issue and will repair any lighting that we are responsible for.”

Across the way in Langford Village Bicester Town Councillor Dan Sames has also called for someone to fix the lights close to Langford Village primary school.

In a tweet on Friday, he said: "Streetlights still out on Peregrine Way outside school, two weeks after being reported. Come on @OxfordshireCC children's safety is at risk!"

In response to the reports of broken street lights Oxfordshire County Council said it had reported the problem to SSE after an inspection found the fault to be a problem with the power supply.

It added that the Manorsfield Road street lights come under the responsibility of the site's developer.

A spokeswoman for SSE Alexis Hall said: "As the street-lighting contractor for Oxfordshire County Council, SSE ensures its engineers complete every job as safely and as quickly as possible, and under the terms of the contract, has a 20-working day window to carry out repairs."

When asked why the lights which had been out since before Christmas had not been repaired, the company said it was not told about them by the county council until January 18, so it was still working within a '20-day window'.