With its listed stone buildings and historic streets, bright yellow is a colour that stands out in the pretty town of Burford, known as the Gateway to the Cotswolds.

A month after it was announced that 134-year-old trees lining The Hill are to face the axe, Burford residents are coming to terms with double yellow lines on the doorsteps of their 15th and 16th century homes.

Lines have been painted on pavements in The Hill upon request of Burford Town Council -- sparking outrage from residents.

They have accused the council and Oxfordshire County Council, which carried out the work, of "defacing" one of Burford's most beautiful streets, and are angry no proper public consultation was carried out.

They enlisted the help of Witney MP David Cameron to try to get both councils to come up with a more "sensitive" approach, but the lines were painted on June 7.

Town mayor David Cohen said the council had no choice but to put in double yellows because some residents regularly parked their cars on the pavements, blocking pedestrian access.

Double yellow lines were already in place along the road in The Hill and the houses do not have allocated parking, so some residents had been parking directly outside their homes on the path.

Mr Cohen said they had repeatedly ignored pleas for them not to park there, and both the council and police had been powerless to stop them.

But resident John Histon claimed there were only a couple of residents who had parked on the pavements, and said the majority of people living in the street were disgusted by the council's "high-handed" way of dealing with the problem.

Speaking on behalf of residents, who plan to set up an action group and fight to get the lines removed, he said: "There has been no consultation on other, more sensitive, options to this problem in the conservation area, no consideration for the devaluing of the affected properties.

"This is an incompetent, insensitive solution and mockery of how to preserve the historic character of this charming town."

But Mr Cohen said residents moved into their homes knowing there was no allocated parking, and suggested they try parking in side streets.

Mr Cohen said: "We have tried to talk to people about this, but this is the last resort at the end of several years of trying to solve a problem which affects the whole community.

"We have had many letters from other people in the town complaining about people parking on the pavement. There have been mothers with pushchairs and a lady in a motorised wheelchair who have been unable to get past on some occasions."

In a letter to Mr Histon, Mr Cameron said he shared the same concerns over the lines and described the situation as "very sad".

Richard Dudding, the county council's director of environment and economy, said work was carried out after many months of discussions with the town council and police.