PEDESTRIANS have demanded council action over the repeated breakdown of a £50,000 rising bollard barely two months after it came into operation.

Cherwell District Council installed the rising bollard on the Kidlington High Street on February 9 after two years of delays, including red-tape wrangles and a vandal attack in December.

The council said the bollard, which would stay up from 10am to 4pm, was put in place to pedestrianise the street and would only let deliveries through if they used a swipe card.

But according councillor for South Kidlington and Kidlington Parish Council member Maurice Billington, the bollard has been working only on and off since it was put in place because of a “maintenance problem”.

Mr Billington said: “It has been working on and off and I have been having discussions with the council. They are going to go in this week or next week to fix the problem of the rising bollard.”

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Owner of Roberts Discount in Kidlington High Street, Robert Windall, said the bollard had only been working about three times a week, leaving customers unhappy.

Mr Windall said: “People are unhappy about it because they expect to be walking down here without any traffic and it is not working. I would say it has not been working at least three days a week and people are really taking advantage of that by driving through.”

Mr Windall said the bollard, which is due to go up at preset times, had not been rising when it was supposed to.

Mother-of-three Jennifer Redden from Kidlington, who claimed she would be walking down the High Street every day with her children during the Easter holidays, said: “It should be working because I feel safer with my children.

“I want to be able to walk through the street without having to dodge a car and it is particularly bad because it is the Easter holidays.”

Retired Glyn Ayto, from Kidlington, said he was unhappy £50,000 had been spent on the bollard and voiced safety concerns.

The 82-year-old, who walks down Kidlington High Street with his wife Christina, 82, every day, said: “I am concerned that it is not up after all that money. I do not feel safe because of the traffic because I just want to shop without worrying about traffic.”

Cherwell District Councillor Carmen Griffiths said she had been in touch with Cherwell District Council to fix the problem, and was hoping to find a solution within a week. Mrs Griffiths said: “It is a new installation so they do know not why it is not working. I am speaking to Cherwell District Council and waiting to find out what is going on.”

Cherwell District Council said: “We have reported the matter to ATG who supplied and fitted the bollard and they investigating.”