FOOTBALL fans planning to drive to home games at the Kassam Stadium this season have been warned to keep a close eye on where they park after a 'crackdown' last week.

At last Saturday's season kick-off, 13 Oxford United supporters were dismayed to find yellow parking tickets on their windscreens after returning to their cars.

But although fans have parked there for a decade, it has actually always been forbidden in a particular stretch of Grenoble Road west of the Kassam, despite the very faded yellow lines.

Oxford United spokesman Chris Williams said: "We want as many people to come here for the Peterborough game next Saturday as possible.

"We advise people to check the regulations wherever they park close to the grounds, and to do so safely and legally."

Blackbird Leys Parish Council chairman Gordon Roper said he had expected the county council to hold a "purge" of this nature for some time.

The Garsington resident said: "Residents have been complaining about the bad parking up there last season when there were big games, and didn't want it to happen again.

"It's a job to park up their and people are getting in where they can, parking on grass verges and along the edges of Grenoble Road."

Last season crowds of 8,000 to 9,000 people flooded the area for big home games against the likes of Swindon Town and Millwall.

Restrictions have been in place since the stadium first opened in 2001, with lorries also banned from parking in certain parts of Grenoble Road.

Mr Roper said: "I think it's more of a safety issue than a nuisance, because some of them park right on the bends up at the entrance to the hotel.

"I'm against people getting fined for parking, but yellow lines are put there for a purpose and you have got to take a chance whether enforcement officers come up."

Pensioner Kaye Ellis, of Tern Walk, said: "There used to be a lot of traffic problems a few years ago but now I think the council are doing a pretty good job."

Oxford United fan Jason Priest, 44, from Wootton near Abingdon, said he always parks at his father Terry's house in Emperor Gardens before a match, rather than parking nearer the stadium.

He said: "I feel sorry for the fans because I don't think the car parks are big enough. It's a shame they have to ticket people because I don't know where they'll put them.

"I don't think it's clear where you can or can't park. The signs that tell people they're going to get tickets aren't obvious either."