DRIVERS have been urged to park more considerately in Littlemore or risk the neighbourhood having its bus service reduced.

Parish council transport spokesman Dorian Hancock says bad parking in Bodley Road, Minchery Road and Grange Road regularly causes delays to Stagecoach’s 16 and 16A buses.

He said congestion caused by people parking where they were not supposed to sometimes led to the buses being delayed by as much as 20 minutes, and that Stagecoach might decide to cut out part of the route to improve journey times.

Mr Hancock said: “My concern is about trying to maintain the bus service we have already got.

“More consideration is required to enable the bus operator to provide a more efficient service and the service they want to provide.

“One of the big issues in Littlemore is parking along Grange Road and Minchery Road. Cars are parked all over the place.”

Mr Hancock also warned there could be a risk to the future of some bus services in Littlemore if the traffic problems persisted.

He said: “If you want to maintain the bus service and not give Stagecoach an excuse to cut out that loop [around Grange Road and Minchery Road] you need to make sure you do not have flare-ups in traffic during the day.

“We also want to encourage the bus companies to put on at least an extra bus each hour.

“The bus companies are trying to provide a service and it has to be on a commercial basis. We should give them all the help we can.”

Most of the problems are said to occur outside John Henry Newman Academy in Grange Road and Mr Hancock said some of the congestion was caused by parents’ parking, while in other cases it appeared to be residents’ cars which were causing issues.

The primary school’s head teacher Jackie Ranger said lots of work had been done to improve things and she was continuing to work with parents to make sure bad parking did not result in congestion.

She said: “As with any school there are always issues with cars outside.

“ It is not just parents, it is residents too, but at any drop-off and collection times the problems are exacerbated.

“We are working very hard with our local councillors and with our PCSOs, who have been amazing.

“We have put information into our newsletters to really engage our parents when it comes to dropping their children off and being courteous .”

Stagecoach did not reply to requests for a comment.