A headteacher warned that a parking scheme that removes spaces used by staff will prove 'an unmitigated disaster'.

Steve Dew, headteacher of Church Cowley St James Primary School, estimates a proposed controlled parking zone currently being consulted on for North Littlemore, means they will have lost '20 to 30' parking spaces for staff.

Traffic, travel and parking was "the number one reason for losing staff beyond the cost of housing in Oxford", he said.

Currently the school has 65 permanent staff and nine who work with groups or 1:1 with children. The car park in front of the school has eight spaces.

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"Approximately 40 staff arrive by car and several ride bikes, riding to work from as far away as Botley and Wheatley, due to the parking issues we already contend with," he said.

The school did support traffic calming measures, a bus gate, and controlled parking zoning when it was consulted on in 2021/22 because Bartholomew Road was a rat run and 'an accident waiting to happen'.

But the latest proposals come on top of a bus lane introduced outside of the school 'because of the poor placement of the bus gate' and residents parking zones in Rahere Road, Liddell Road opposite the school, to the right of the school around Barnes Road and Lockheart Crescent.

The school is able to apply for the Business Permit parking scheme but restricted to 20 passes at £190 per car per year -  a cost of £3,800 per year.

Mr Dew said: "The actual available spaces are severely restricted to four to five spaces for all of the staff cars as the visitor or business spaces are limited. So once these are filled, staff park further away on currently unzoned roads like Van Diemans Lane or Orchard Way.

"This has caused some opposition from locals, but we have no other options. We currently have 20-plus members of staff parking in this areas and these are the roads are included in the consultation.

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"Further, CP zoning will be an unmitigated disaster for the school. Teachers and teaching staff will leave, and we will not be able to replace them for the same reason."

An Oxfordshire County Council spokesperson said: “We welcome all feedback to our consultation, especially from local schools, to help inform the decision-making process and we would urge all interested parties to take part.

"All responses will be analysed by officers before any recommendations are made ahead of the decision-making process."