traffic wardens have told residents in Headington that they cannot enforce permit-only parking because Oxford City Council has not painted bays on the road.

Householders in Bateman Street have been told that anyone can park in their street because there are no white lines indicating where householders can park.

Resident Peter Devlin said parking permits had been in force on the street for nearly ten years, but traffic wardens, employed by Oxfordshire County Council subcontractor Control Plus, had told him they were not allowed to penalise people if there were no official parking bays.

Although Control Plus is paid by the county council, it is up to the city council to paint bays on the roads.

John Hill, the city council's acting group manager for traffic and design, said: "This situation has been pointed out to us. We now plan to mark out these bays."