Oxfordshire's Conservative MPs have written to the government to raise concerns about the traffic filters consultation.

Politicians in this county have jointly written to the Department of Transport to express their concerns over whether Oxfordshire County Council committed to install traffic filters before consulting the public.

The letter to the Department of Transport comes after the Oxford Mail revealed that important traffic impact data was withheld from the public until the traffic filters consultation had closed.

READ MORE: Oxford traffic filters: pressure mounting on council

The Times also recently reported that Oxfordshire County Council had provided a written commitment to the Department for Transport in March 2022 that the traffic filters would be approved by December 2022.

This is despite the public consultation not opening until September 2022 and approval only officially being given by the council’s cabinet in November 2022.

Conservative MPs David Johnston, John Howell, Robert Courts and Victoria Prentis said: “Recent reports have been very concerning and suggest that Oxfordshire County Council made the decision to approve the traffic filters in bad faith, far in advance, without any proper consultation with the people who would be affected by it.

“The public deserve answers, and we look forward to hearing from the Department for Transport about this.”

The letter to the Department of Transport asked to clarify whether the council did make a written commitment before the public consultation opened and, if so, whether the Department for Transport asked for this.

READ MORE: Oxford Traffic filters: Major details hidden from public

An Oxfordshire County Council spokesman has previously said: “The county council believes last year’s traffic filters public consultation and decision making process to implement a trial was sound.

"Our monitoring officer is undertaking a review to check procedures were followed correctly.

"The information provided enabled almost 6,000 people to give their views. After the consultation, changes were made to the traffic filters proposal based on people’s feedback.

"Consultation is one part of the decision making process and feedback is reviewed alongside other information when decisions are made in the council’s public meetings.

"The filters will be implemented as a trial, as part of an experimental traffic regulation order, after works to improve Oxford Station are completed by Network Rail in late 2024.

"To support the trial, there will be a six-month consultation where anyone will be able to give their views on how the filters are working.

"During the trial, monitoring data will be published as soon as possible so respondents will be able to draw on both measured data and their own experiences when giving views on the scheme.

"This will help us to understand the impact of the filters in real time so we can adapt our plans during the trial, where needed, and, together with consultation outcomes, this will help inform the decision on whether to continue with them."