Householders in East Oxford have cautiously welcomed the first findings of consultation on plans to introduce permit parking.

It has been suggested that residents in the area around Divinity and Magdalen roads should be allowed two permits — and drivers would be allowed to park on some pavements.

County councillor Ian Hudspeth cabinet member for transport said: "The main sticking point at the moment is the number of permits per residence, and finding a way to get sufficient permits to satisfy people.

"One of the biggest problems is the students, because you can have houses with six people with cars.

"We are trying to work out if there is a way of restricting permits."

Mr Hudspeth said ideas raised during the consultation — such as only issuing council tax-payers with permits, were being considered.

During the first phase of consultation, the council received more than 700 responses, with most people wanting permit parking in place 24-hours-a day, seven days-a-week.

Detailed plans are now being drawn up with requirements examined on a street-by-street basis.

Mr Hudspeth said the scheme was likely to include pavement parking in some areas.

He said: "Residents are not particularly pleased with pavement parking, but they can see it may be needed in certain areas to increase parking numbers.

"Before we make any final decision, we will be going back to check with residents and explain the situation."

Lynne Trenery, transport spokesman for the Divinity Road Area Residents' Association, said: "We are knocking on every single door and finding out if it is a private residence or house in multiple occupancy to find out how many cars there are.

"We are concerned about two permits per household because we think that will mean issuing too many permits — and there won't be enough space.

"We are against pavement parking because the pavements are very narrow."

As part of the scheme, it is planned to allocate spaces for car club cars — a new initiative being set up in East Oxford to reduce the number of cars.

Abi Johnson, from Hurst Street, was pleased the car club was being included in the scheme.

She said: "My understanding is they are trying to leave at least one route of unparked pavement through every street.

"There has to be a balance struck between the demands of people who have cars and people who want to use the pavements."