YELLOW lines approved last year have still not been placed on a road that residents have blasted as a “free park-and-ride”.

Last year Oxfordshire County Council approved a decision to place yellow lines on the service road by Oxford Road in Kidlington.

It came after people living in the area complained drivers from elsewhere were parking on the road and getting the bus to town.

But 74-year-old Kidlington resident Michael Makepeace, who lives next to the service road, said the yellow lines had yet to be painted and their absence had turned the outside of his house into a “one-way” road, too dangerous to cross.

The retired estate manager, who has lived in Oxford Road for 36 years, said: “It has become an overgrown car park for people who use the bus.

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“It is a hazard to me trying to cross the road and it has become a free park-and-ride.

“There are cars all along the road and you can’t see ahead, and you can’t see cars coming when you cross the road.”

County council spokesman Paul Smith said a decision was made late in 2014 to place parking restrictions in several streets in southern Kidlington, but a ‘cost-effective’ solution has not yet been found.

Mr Smith added: “It is correct to say that a decision was made in late 2014 to introduce parking restrictions in several streets in the southern part of Kidlington, particularly along the service roads either side of A4260 Oxford Road.

“We have been discussing the most cost-effective way to get the work done without disrupting other programmes of work.

“Those discussions are likely to conclude soon and we hope the work will begin later in the spring.”

Mr Smith would not respond to what he meant by “disrupting other programmes of work.”

Chiropractor Stephen Connolly, whose business Inspire Chiropractic is on Oxford Road, said his customers were finding it difficult to park.

Mr Connolly added: “Our customers find it difficult to park and I want to see restrictions because that would really help our business.

“People park here and then get the bus when the spaces are not for them.”

Finance assistant Claire Hawtin, of Hazel Crescent, Kidlington, drives through the road every day.

The 29-year-old said: “You can’t get in and out of the village without getting stuck because you have to give way all the time. It is very frustrating because it is making me late for work.”