Spaces have been closed at Oxpens decked car park, making it more difficult for Westgate shoppers and other drivers to find a parking space in the city.

From today 106 spaces are no longer available at the car park in Oxpens Road, as the decking section has now been closed off.

The spaces immediately below the decking are still available to park in.

From Monday, a further 135 spaces on matting will be removed, leaving a total of 179 spaces available at the car park where there were 420 spaces.

The changes result from the expiry of the temporary planning permission for the decking and an extension, granted during the construction of the Westgate Centre.

In line with the planning permission for the shopping centre, the total number of city centre car parking spaces will now be lower than before construction of the centre began.

The original surface level car park will continue to operate for the next few months before being permanently closed as part of the multi-million pound Oxpens redevelopment scheme.

The decking will be removed and is expected to be relocated to Redbridge park-and-ride later this year in a scheme costing an estimated £1.7m.

Alex Hollingsworth, board member for planning and transport, said: "The Oxpens decking and extension were a temporary facility and the planning permission has now expired, and we will be closing it altogether as part of the redevelopment of the Oxpens area.

"The council is looking to reduce the overall number of car parking spaces, and associated levels of traffic, in Oxford city centre.

"We encourage visitors to use public transport, or the park and ride system, when coming to the centre of the city."

The removal of parking spaces has been welcomed by Oxford Bus Company managing director Phil Southall.

He said: "This is great news and I would like to commend Oxford City Council for this decision, just what we requested to help alleviate congestion issues in Oxford, which are not getting any better.

“I’d appeal to those who currently park at Oxpens to embrace our park-and-ride service that provides frequent connections into the city centre from the five sites around Oxford and assure them that they can be assured of a world-class welcome."