CHARGES at Oxford's park-and-rides are set to be scrapped and more parking places provided as part of a transport package to combat chronic congestion in and around the city.

The city's park-and-rides will also be enlarged and improved in the latest bid to persuade motorists to stay out of the city centre.

And drivers are to see the first fruits of an £88m improvements package with the introduction of variable message signs on the approaches to the Oxford ring road, offering live information on roadworks, parking and congestion.

The £1-a-visit park-and-ride charges provide the city council with an annual income of £700,000 a year.

But the Town Hall is proposing to hand over the running of the three park-and-ride sites that it operates - at Redbridge, Seacourt and Pear Tree - to Oxfordshire County Council, which operates the city's other two sites. These county sites are already free.

County Hall intends to offer free parking at all five sites, possibly within a year, to tempt thousands more motorists on to buses. It will also seek to expand the size of the sites and introduce facilities such as coffee bars and newsagents.

The idea of introducing two-deck parking on some of the park-and-rides will be looked at. A temporary two-deck scheme has already been put forward at Redbridge to provide extra parking during the construction of the new Westgate shopping centre.

Ian Hudspeth, the county council's cabinet member for transport, said: "Our policy is for free parking at park-and-rides to enable people to get out of cars on to buses, without them having to fiddle around looking for change.

"We want to encourage people to use buses. We are also conscious of complaints from visitors to the city who have ended up with fines for £100 for not realising there is a park-and-ride charge."

A report to city councillors said handing over the sites to the county council would mean the extra park-and ride-costs could be borne by all the county's taxpayers, and not just the city's. It would also bring about investment and "improvements to services available to users irrespective of the direction they are travelling into Oxford".

City councillors were warned the alternative was to risk charges rising to "unacceptable" levels in the future. Talks about the level of compensation to the city are being held, with the transfer plan expected to net the city council £250,000-a-year over a decade.

The news will boost the multi-million-pound Access to Oxford programme, designed to ease congestion, which many believe could worsen with the completion of the new Westgate.

The variable message signs will be sited early next year at Yarnton, Eynsham, Wolvercote, Sandford, Cumnor and the A40.

They are also likely to appear on the A34 after talks with the Highways Agency.

As well as providing information about incidents and roadworks, they will indicate when park-and-rides and the Westgate car park is full, congestion information and journey times to park-and-rides.

More than half the £440,000 cost will be paid for by the developer of the new Westgate.

The Access to Oxford scheme, given the green light by the Government last year, includes plans to expand Oxford's rail station.