A 20MPH speed limit for side roads in North Oxford is set to be agreed this week as part of long-awaited road safety improvements in Summertown.

Oxfordshire County Council is ready to give the go-ahead to extending new speed limits to side roads between Woodstock Road and Banbury Road.

A public consultation in the autumn showed strong local support for the speed limit being introduced, with only two objections from residents.

It will form a key element in the £1.1m Summertown Shopping Area Environment Enhancement Scheme, drawn up to cut the level of accidents in the busy shopping area.

Summertown was identified as a priority area for improvements because of congestion and a long series of transport problems.

Work on the scheme, which will also involve pedestrian, cycle and bus facilities, will begin in the spring.

The consultation means that the 20mph limit should be extended to Oakthorpe Road, South Parade, Stratfield Road, Thorncliffe Road, Oakthorpe Place and Beech Croft Road.

It follows an earlier decision to introduce a 20mph limit on Banbury Road from Londsdale Road to Diamond Place, including the eastern side roads of Mayfield Road, Summerfield Road and Diamond Place.

All the 20mph speed limits will be introduced simultaneously at an as yet unspecified date.

City councillor for Summertown, Tony Hollander, called for the 20mph limit to be introduced in North Oxford side roads as quickly as possible.

He said: "It will help create a climate of care and caution. Everyone in Summertown will support that.

"There is a movement within the city council to enforce a 20mph limit everywhere within the Oxford ring road. I do not subscribe to that, because in some places people would simply ignore it."

Police earlier in the year faced criticism after admitting that they would not enforce a 20mph speed limit which is to be introduced on the Summertown shops stretch of the Banbury Road.

A Thames Valley Police spokesman told The Oxford Times when the measures were first proposed: "We don't enforce 20mph speed limits as a matter of course. However, a 20mph limit should dictate the speed of the traffic."

City councillor Jean Fooks said: "The police response was unhelpful. People were disappointed to put it mildly. But the police are still saying that they will not be able to enforce 20mph limits. The police ought to be concerned about improving safety. Extending the limit is a step forward in the right direction."

An exhibition of some of the street furniture that will be used in the Summertown enhancement scheme will go on display on January 25 and 26 at Summertown Church Hall, Portland Road.