Oxford's Cowley Road is becoming an unauthorised garage forecourt with up to 14 cars for sale parked along the road at a time.

Residents said the number of cars with notices in their windows saying they are for sale parked at the Cowley end of the road, near Marsh Park, had dramatically increased, and they want action.

Sarah Hornsby, who lives and works in Cowley Road, said: "I have phoned the council loads of times and they say there is nothing they can do about it and anyone can park their car there.

"Weekends seem to be even worse. I've counted 14 cars there but there are always about six to eight.

"It is a big problem because you cannot park and there are always people hanging around."

Miss Hornsby said she saw the same people there trying to sell different cars.

Oxford City Council has put a sign up warning that cars for sale may be classed as abandoned and towed - but a spokesman admitted they had only towed three in the last year.

Parking restrictions across the area are currently under review and Oxford City Council's Cowley area committee has asked the county council to consider putting double-yellow lines along one side of the road and a two-hour waiting limit on the other.

Businesses in the area are also becoming increasingly frustrated by the situation.

Pete Smith, assistant manager at Groom and Hornsby auto repair centre, said: "There is nowhere for staff to park there anymore and they end up having to park somewhere else, which then upsets other locals.

"I personally had my car paintstripped just for where I parked.

"Sometimes the cars are parked on the double-yellow lines around our entrance. It has got a lot worse over the last couple of years and we keep seeing the same couple of people with the cars."

Paul Quarterman, director of timber merchants WG Powell, said: "It is a nuisance. They're using it like a selling forecourt.

"I have also noticed we are getting a lot of people that stop on the opposite side of the road parking on the pavement and stopping to have a look around."

Saj Malik, city councillor for the area, said: "It is a terrible situation. We need to put in some double- yellow lines or maybe a restriction for two hours, but not all along the Cowley Road.

"It makes people park on the footpath and what's going to happen is they're going to spend £22,000 on that pavement and it will get ruined again. One woman approached me because she can't get into her driveway, and now it's going further down the road because it is full up at the top."

A man selling a Vauxhall Omega, who gave his name as Risha, told the Oxford mail he lived in Greater Leys but parked his car in Cowley Road because he heard it was a good place to sell it.

He was also selling a Hyundai, but said he just needed to sell the two vehicles to pay for flight tickets to go to a wedding in India next month.

The owner of a green Ford Fiesta parked in the street last week said he had moved the car to his home in Headington because he had been called by a councillor and told to move it.

The owner of a silver Nissan Almera parked there on Wednesday moved it to Rose Hill the following day.

And a woman selling a red VW Polo said she did live nearby, but she parked the car here because "everybody seems to be doing it".

Ian Hudspeth, Oxfordshire County Council cabinet member for transport improvements, said he would consider the city council's proposals.