A TRIAL to improve the way tourist coaches park up along a critical road in Oxford city centre has begun.

The city and county councils announced the launch of the project in St Giles last week and it started on Monday.

Last Friday, when the plan was announced, the county council said it had wanted to resolve the problems of parking for ‘some time’.

As part of it, a civil enforcement officer will be based in St Giles between 10am and 6pm every day. It follows worries that some coaches had been parked in dangerous and inappropriate places, including in well-used cycle lanes.

The four-month trial will mean that the enforcement will take place over the busy summer period.

The councils will seek to gather information about what could be done to permanently solve problems on St Giles. So far, it is understood the operations have been ‘cordial’.