traffic could grind to a halt in Headington if a street is turned into a major bus route, Oxford city councillors fear.

They believe buses would have such a problem turning right from and into Osler Road, that they would cause severe problems for traffic throughout the already congested area.

Residents are also worried that if the road becomes a bus route as part of the Headington and Marston Area Transport Strategy (HAMATS), which aims to tackle parking and congestion problems, it will have a knock on effect on Old Headington's conservation area.

Plans for the bus route were approved by the city council's strategic development control committee.

But the project is dependent on the findings of a London Road traffic study, intended to tackle congestion.

If the study, which should be completed early next year, identifies a need for the route, it will go ahead.

In October, the Oxford Mail revealed how more than 100 residents signed a petition opposing it as part of the Keep Osler Road Special campaign, backed by Headington's city council members Stephen Tall and David Rundle.

The Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust is behind the route, which is part of the conditions of outline planning permission for the new £20m children's hospital and the relocation of hospital services from the Radcliffe Infirmary to the John Radcliffe Hospital. Council leader Alex Hollingsworth told the city's north east area committee on Tuesday: "A bus waiting to turn could be there for a considerable time and the queue of traffic could be backed right up to the Windmill Road junction.

"It seems wrong the whole of Headington should be seized up for hours afterwards."

Sarah King, chairman of the Friends of Old Headington, said: "Osler Road is a narrow residential road, with a nursery school for two-and-a-half to five-year-olds, which has no off-street parking.

"There are also six houses with no off-street parking. If this goes ahead some parking provision will have to be made for them.

"We're worried that if London Road becomes more congested, drivers will avoid it and use the narrow streets in Old Headington's conservation area.

"Dunstan Road, St Andrew's Road and Barton Lane will become more of a rat run than they already are."

David Edwards, the hospital trust's transport and planning manager, said: "The route will cut a seven-minute bus journey to two minutes."