Shoppers are being invited to grill their local councillors while stocking up on groceries.

As part of an initiative to make themselves more accessible to the public, Oxfordshire county councillors have launched a series of surgeries in an Oxford supermarket.

Members representing wards in the east Oxford, Cowley and Blackbird Leys areas are running six-weekly advice sessions at the Tesco store on the Oxford Retail Park, Cowley.

The idea came from county councillor for Blackbird Leys, Barbara Gatehouse, who runs the surgeries with the council member for Oxford East Andrew Brown, and the representative for Temple Cowley, Biddy Hudson.

Mrs Gatehouse, a former Lord Mayor of Oxford, said: "Council members seem to be remote to some people, so we decided to hold our surgeries in a supermarket which lots of local people use.

"It is very interesting. People come to us with things they have been meaning to get resolved but haven't known the right way to go about it. We are always on the look out for ways to keep in touch with people. This has proved helpful."

The next Tesco surgery will be held on March 1, from 10am to 3pm.