A CALL by cyclists to allow them to use Queen Street in Oxford once it is pedestrianised has prompted fierce debate.

Last month council leaders at Oxfordshire County Council decided that buses should be removed from Queen Street when the new £440m Westgate Centre reopens in October.

This overruled an earlier recommendation by David Nimmo Smith, the cabinet member for transport, who planned to keep Queen Street open to buses on a trial basis.

At the moment cyclists are only allowed to use Queen Street between 6pm and 10am but once the street is pedestrianised restrictions on cycling could be removed, and a county council review is continuing.

Simon Hunt, chairman of Oxford-based cycling group Cyclox, said last week: "If Queen Street is going to be pedestrianised then cyclists should be allowed to use it all the time."

But some who commented online were not convinced, and when readers were asked in an online poll 'Should cyclists be allowed to use Queen Street alongside pedestrians?' 74 per cent said 'no' while 26 per cent said 'yes'.

Norton Manor said: "Make them walk the same as in Cornmarket Street. Pedestrians must be safe from having to avoid cyclists some who don't give a monkeys whether or not pedestrians are there or not."

The debate also divided city councillors.

Blackbird Leys councillor Linda Smith said: "Queen Street should not be treated as a thoroughfare, especially with the new Westgate Centre opening, it is a destination.

"It should be properly pedestrianised, and be a safe place for shoppers to walk, dawdle and relax - which means no cycle route through it."

But East Oxford councillor Dick Wolff said: "Please don't assume Cllr Smith is speaking for "councillors"! "Oxford's lack of an east-west cycle route must be addressed."

Oxford Pedestrians' Association chairwoman Sushila Dhall said two-way cycling should be monitored with pedestrians given priority.