THE expansion of one of Oxford’s Park and Ride sites is finally due to be completed next month.

Oxford City Council’s plans to add an extra 595 parking spaces at Seacourt Park and Ride on the Botley Road have faced delays this winter due to supply issues caused by Brexit, as well as recent winter flooding and Covid.

A spokesman for the city council said: "The completion of the Seacourt extension has been delayed by supply issues caused by the Covid crisis, Brexit issues and by bad weather. Currently the project is due for completion by the end of February."

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The project has faced spiralling costs since work started in summer 2019, with previous winter floods and the first lockdown contributing to delays.

By the last count in September 2020, the total cost of the project stood at £5.6m.

The council spokesman did not say whether costs had increased since then.

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Works are also taking place around the entrance of Seacourt Park and Ride. Picture: Ed Nix

When Oxford City Council met on Monday night (January 25), Liberal Democrat councillor Liz Wade said the car park extension had been 'inundated' with flood water on Christmas Day, and had been flooded the year before.

She asked why it had flooded over the last two Christmases and whether a porous surface at the extension was draining properly.

Alex Hollingsworth, the cabinet member for planning and housing delivery, said the extension was designed to flood when the Bullstake and Seacourt streams burst their banks.

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He added: "Water will remain until the levels in the streams fall below the level of the car park, at which point the pumps will begin to operate.

"They are not designed to keep the car park extension from flooding during a flood event, as that would run counter to the Environment Agency’s requirement that the car park extension acts as a floodwater storage area until water levels have fallen."

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