POTENTIAL top priorities for where new parking restrictions could be introduced in Oxford have been agreed.

The county council’s environment boss Yvonne Constance approved a report which ranked the city’s areas from those which most need controlled parking zones (CPZs) to those which need them least.

The zones will be funded by the county and city councils, and will now be implemented in order of priority as far as the available cash stretches.

City and county councillor Roz Smith supported the plans and said she hoped her ward would be included.

Much of Headington is already covered by CPZs but large parts of neighbouring Headington Quarry are not. Ms Smith said Quarry and nearby Risinghurst were faced with different problems – both of which could be solved by CPZs.

In Risinghurst, Ms Smith said tourists regularly drop off their cars for free, sometimes leaving there for weeks at a time.

But in Headington Quarry she said the main challenge was trying to prevent John Radcliffe Hospital staff from parking in residential areas to be close to their work.

Residents are permitted to move their cars from outside their home and over a mile away because the zone is so big, Ms Smith said.

She said: “We have some people who drive a 1.2-mile car journey and park in another street, walking across Old Road and into the John Radcliffe Hospital.”

But she added: “It is great that the city council is working with the county council on this.”

CPZs are employed to provide sufficient car parking space for residents and to prevent other motorists from parking in places where space is at a premium.

They will become increasingly important across Oxford as traffic restrictions become tighter ahead of a city centre zero emissions zone being implemented in 2020.

As the Oxford Mail reported last week, the councils have designated their top priority zones – marked as Priority 1 – for potentially new CPZs as Cowley Marsh and Hollow Way.

Ms Smith’s Headington Quarry ward is in the Priority 2 group.

Other areas are Barton, Sandhills, Risinghurst, New Marston, Donnington and Florence Park.

Less pressing Priority 3 sites include Lower Wolvercote, Upper Wolvercote, Old Marston and an extension along Abingdon Road.

The least-pressing Priority 4 sites are Greater Leys, Blackbird Leys, Littlemore (South) and Rose Hill and Iffley.

The ranking of those areas is likely to become increasingly important because funding is limited. The county council’s director for planning and place, Susan Halliwell, said implementing all the CPZs would top £3m.

With the limited spending pot currently only at £861,000, both authorities already know ‘some prioritisation is necessary’.

Mrs Constance said: “Increasing demand for parking due to growth and development places stresses on local communities and so I am pleased that we are able to work with the city council to tackle it.

“Setting them up costs a great deal and the fees people pay to park in them cover the ongoing costs of running them. This is something we want to be able to extend to other communities.”

CLARIFICATION: Originally we said Risinghurst and Sandhills had been included in the Priority 3 group. They have in fact been included in the Priority 2 group and we are happy to correct this.