A PARK-AND-RIDE planned for Eynsham village should be built on the outskirts of Witney instead, according to a charity's working group.

Oxfordshire Futures suggested any park-and-ride included in Oxfordshire County Council's £180m proposals to upgrade the A40 should be located to the east of the town.

Under the existing plans, the facility would be built north of the A40, west of Cuckoo Lane, Eynsham, with an eastbound bus lane built between Eynsham and the Duke's Cut canal bridge, near Wolvercote.

Work is expected to start next year, but the group, part of the Oxford Civic Society, called the overall scheme a 'piecemeal project'.

A post on its website said: "In our view the main A40 scheme is another example of incrementalism, a piecemeal project being built in the hope that at some time in the future it can be joined up with other bits and pieces into a coherent network.

"Past experience is not encouraging."

Oxfordshire Futures believes a park-and-ride near Shores Green on Oxford Hill, Witney, would 'make it easy for people to access bus services at the earliest point in their journeys'.

This, it explains, would address the 'small proportion' of residents living 'within convenient walking distance' of a direct bus service to Oxford.

New bus stops on the A40, westbound bus priority and junction improvements at certain points of the stretch also feature in phase one of the council's plans.

Extra improvements are listed in phase two, one of which is extending the A40 dual carriageway to the park-and-ride.

Oxfordshire Futures also raised concerns about the impact of the Oxford North development, the Wolvercote Roundabout and cycle infrastructure.

To have your say on the proposals visit oxfordshire.gov.uk/A40 before January 1.