PEOPLE living in an Oxford cul-de-sac have claimed their road is in a horrendous state because of a wrangle over whose responsibility it is to maintain it.

Residents in Woodpecker Green, Greater Leys, say they live with a swimming pool in the summer and an ice rink in the winter because of craters in their road.

The neighbours said Oxford City Council refuse trucks had churned up the road surface - and claimed the council had admitted this in letters sent out last year.

They also claim to have documentary proof that the city council is responsible for maintaining the road in front of their homes. But both the city and Oxfordshire County Council claim only part of the road is adopted.

Louise Simpson, 27, part-owns her flat in Woodpecker Green. She said she had a copy of a document which shows Oxford City Council agreed to maintain her area of the road in 1994.

She said: "It looks horrendous. It's awful - when we have guests around we can't have them drive down the road.

"It's an ordeal and nobody seems to want to take responsibility for it."

Mrs Simpson said council refuse lorries had caused a hump to appear in the middle of the road, with a large crater at the end of it.

She said water had got in to the crater and cracked the road's asphalt surface - and that the road was so uneven it was catching on the bottom of cars.

She added: "We have a swimming pool in summer and an ice rink in winter.

"The city council has accepted responsibility and I think it should repair it."

Neighbour Roz Ash added: "The road is pretty poor and it has got a lot worse in the 18 months I have been here.

"It is mainly from where the council dustcarts have been reversing - it just churns the surface as if it was mud.

"I am annoyed with the city council. They have basically accepted that their lorries caused the damage."

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith has called on the city council to repair the damage, and the county council to adopt the road.

In a joint statement, the city and county councils said: "Woodpecker Green is an adopted road.

"However, there is adjacent land to the highway that is not adopted and is not in a good state of repair.

"This is owned by a Surrey-based private company.

"The county council cannot adopt land that is not highway land.

"Refuse trucks from Oxford City Council have in the past driven into this cul-de-sac for refuse collections but have stopped doing this now to protect the road surface."