A £60,000 traffic-calming scheme being installed in west Oxfordshire is an "accident waiting to happen", according to a driving safety spokesman.

Driver, biker and cyclist Mark McArthur-Christie said triangular concrete blocks, which will create a one-way system at Bampton's four main entrances, pose a risk to all road users.

So far, the 20cm high blocks -- known as village gateways -- have only been installed in Station Lane, on the way from Bampton towards Witney, but Mr McArthur-Christie, of Bampton, said lives were already being put at risk.

Oxfordshire County Council said it had consulted expert engineers before commissioning the work on behalf of Bampton Parish Council and was confident the scheme would work.

But Mr McArthur-Christie, safety spokesman for the Institute of Advanced Drivers and a representative of the Association of British Drivers, said: "From the Witney and Brize Norton road, there is a sharp corner entering Bampton.

"These blocks are causing traffic to queue. All it needs is for four to five cars to be queuing back and for a driver to come around the corner, where it's a 40mph zone, and smash straight into the back of them.

"I was cycling out of Bampton the other day and was almost knocked off my bike by a driver because there's not enough room any more for both a car and cycle.

"It's an accident waiting to happen."

Mr McArthur-Christie, 38, who cycles daily to West End, Witney, said new methods of traffic calming would provide a better solution.

Parish council chairman David Hawkins said he was aware there were concerns about the scheme, but he was sure the plan would have a positive effect.

He said: "The problem is that we thought this would be finished much sooner, during the winter. Because it's half finished, people have not had a chance to see it working.

"I'm sure after a fortnight or couple of months people will have got used to it and it will help to slow the speeds."

Mike Collins, the county council's principal engineer, said he was aware of potential problems approaching the village, and extra signs were being put up warning motorists of possible queues.

He said: "We decided to use this method of traffic calming on the advice of our engineering consultants, Jacobs Babtie, who have considerable experience in the type of scheme most suited to this type of road.

"Local people and other interested parties, including the local cycling touring club, were consulted."