PENSIONER John Webb is calling for safety measures at a roundabout in North Oxford because cars keep crashing into a fence outside his block of flats.

Widower Mr Webb, 76, lives in Churchill House at the junction of Sunderland Avenue and Banbury Road.

The former publisher, who lives in one of nine private flats alongside 20 other residents, is calling for action after the third accident in the past two years.

At the start of the month a car smashed through bollards and a wooden fence that separates the communal garden from the roadside off Cutteslowe roundabout.

Mr Webb, whose wife Peggy, 78, died last year, lives in a ground-floor flat and is acting as a spokesman for residents.

He said: “A few weeks ago, a small car crashed into the bollards, and then crashed through the fence.

“The driver and his two passengers got out and ran off and the police were called.

“The fence has been knocked down three times in the past two years by drivers who are going too fast and losing control.

“On the previous occasion, the bike shed was demolished, and the first time this happened the gardener had to be careful cleaning up because drug needles were dumped in the bushes.

“The accidents have all happened at night, which is just as well because sometimes the residents like to sit out in the communal garden during the day.”

Mr Webb said he thought metal barriers should be put up to protect the fence and a speed camera set up on the approach to the roundabout from Headington.

He said: “It’s a 50mph speed limit on that stretch and some drivers are not reducing their speed enough as they approach the roundabout. Each time the fence gets knocked down it costs several hundred pounds to replace, pushing up insurance premiums.”

Summertown city councillor Jean Fooks said: “Residents are extremely concerned about this and the county council needs to consider what can be done. It put wooden bollards up last year but they have been demolished.”

Earlier this year, residents in North Oxford discovered that highways bosses at County Hall had abandoned plans to bid for government funds for improvements to Cutteslowe roundabout.

The council wanted to bid for £3.7m to pay for new lanes and traffic lights to tackle traffic delays at the roundabout. But it was forced to abandon its bid after failing to win backing from the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

The council says it is now focusing on a more comprehensive solution, which will feature a link road connecting the A40 and the A44, to divert traffic from the Wolvercote roundabout.

The Northern Gateway scheme includes plans for more than 200 homes with space to create up to 3,000 jobs near Peartree, and is expected to increase congestion.