DOUBLE yellow lines will be painted on a road in Bicester despite residents’ concerns that it will cause safety issues with drivers parking outside of their homes instead.

The new road markings will be splashed on a section of Browning Drive as part of a larger group of proposals for waiting restrictions in the town.

The changes were approved by Oxfordshire County Council Cabinet Member for Environment, Yvonne Constance.

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In the environment meeting on Thursday, she said she did not see any valid reason to stop them and she was supported by local councillors for the area, including Les Sibley. Mr Sibley said there was an urgent need for on street parking restrictions in Browning Drive, Bunyan Road and Kingsley Road in Bicester. 

He added: "It is patently evident that the inconsiderate and dangerous parking of vehicles at the T junctions creates a hazardous and dangerous situation for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians."

But a local woman, Jenna Shaer, spoke at the meeting against them.

The double yellow lines on Browning Drive are next to The Hart Veterinary Centre and she said stopping cars from parking there would be dangerous as it would lead all the cars to park outside homes further down the road, potentially blocking driveways and causing visibility problems.

As the markings were approved, she said: “I look forward to all the accidents that will happen outside residents homes then.”

Ms Constance told Mrs Shaer that the changes would be reviewed after six months of them being painted, to see if they were working as expected.

She said: “That is quite a standard practice and the traffic management team is familiar with reviewing changes in street controls six months after the event.”

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The vets on Browning Drive does have a small car park, but since opening back in 1993, it says it has outgrown the site.

Staff therefore use the road to park so that clients can have ‘unfettered use’ of the car park on its premises.

In the vets objection letter to the county council, it said it has been trying to move to a new location in the town a mile away on Middleton Stoney Road so that more space for parking is available.

It said: “We have been trying to get permission through Cherwell District Council for the last five years as part of the new Eco Town development, but have been thus far thwarted by red tape and the perceived snail’s pace with which this part of the Eco Town is progressing.”