A COMBINATION of CCTV cameras, more police on bicycles and road safety measures could be brought in to the Cowley Road area of Oxford.

Oxford City Council's east area committee was asked to back a £150,000 bid to bring eight cameras to the Cowley Road.

But instead, councillors agreed to support the bid for capital from the council's reserves - but for a mixture of community safety measures instead.

Chairman Nuala Young said: "We felt Britain was the most watched nation in the world.

"We've decided we'll support a budget bid for community safety to that amount and we could look at all sorts of things like bicycle policing.

"One of the things people have really been concerned about is children crossing to get to schools on Iffley Road, particularly at the junction with Donnington Bridge.

"I would rather see the funds go to road safety measures like that as well as the bicycle police than just blanket coverage of the Cowley Road."

Hassan Khan, whose ten-year-old son Numaan was seriously injured after being knocked off his cycle in Iffley Road last month, had called for a pedestrian crossing to be installed.

Mrs Young said one of the key concerns about putting CCTV cameras along the Cowley Road was that it could push crime on to the side streets where they could misbehave undetected.

But she was in favour of individual licensed premises having their own CCTV cameras to monitor their customers both in and out of the pubs and bars.

She said she hoped discussions could be held with the police, Oxfordshire County Council and other interested parties to decide exactly how the money could be best spent to improve safety in the Cowley Road area.

Mrs Young added: "The idea of having eight cameras was to follow people along the High Street up the Cowley Road, and while there are some places where we think CCTV would be helpful, like at the churchyard near Magdalen Road, displacement is a real worry.

"We want to put the appropriate community safety measures for East Oxford to keep it a lovely community and a happy one.

"A combined package is the answer rather than spending it on a whole lot of cameras on the Cowley Road."

SS Mary and John churchyard has had problems with vandalism and drunks congregating in the grounds and Rev Adam Romanis has backed plans for CCTV to cover the entrances.