RESIDENTS and local councillors are urging the county council to include another street in new proposed 20mph speed limit zones.

Oxfordshire County Council is introducing the speed limit in several areas of Witney as part of its active travel scheme, but Mill Street is currently not part of the plans.

Residents however want to see the 20mph zone extended from the junction with Bridge Street up to the Woodford Way traffic lights.

Leading the call is West Oxfordshire district councillor Andrew Coles, who said he has raised the matter with the county council.

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“I very much welcome the efforts to make Witney’s roads safer but it makes no sense not to include Mill Street,” he said.

“There is without doubt a problem with speeding here and safety should take priority, particularly with Tower Hill Primary School just up the road.

“Reducing the speed limit would also help tackle levels of air pollution, which already exceed UK Government targets and is damaging people’s health.”

Ken Smith, chair of the Riverside Gardens Residents Association, said: “It’s mostly older people that live at this end of town and the volume and speed of passing traffic is quite frightening.”

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Carol Stark, who has lived in Woodford Mill for 17 years, added: “There has been a definite increase in speeding along here in recent years. It’s often not safe trying to pull out into traffic.”

Meanwhile, Witney town councillor, Liz Duncan, who lives nearby, said: “A 20mph speed limit would improve the lives of residents here in so many ways, making it safer, quieter and healthier for everyone.”

In 2016, a 12-hour traffic survey was conducted, finding that nearly 10,000 vehicles used Mill Street between 7am and 7pm, including 220 heavy goods vehicles.

The county council’s active travel scheme aims to make journeys easier by bike and on foot as lockdown restrictions eventually ease.

Temporary and permanent changes are being made to cycling infrastructure, footpaths and parts of the road network across the county.

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