Tourist coaches arriving in Oxford are to be given a series of specially-allocated dropping-off points.

Councillors at the city highways and traffic committee agreed to the proposals to help keep traffic free from snarl-ups during the peak of the tourist season.

Until now, tourist coaches have parked in St Giles, and because there are no designated spaces for them, they park where they like.

Now councillors are proposing a series of setting down and picking up points, which will be in place in time for the start of the peak tourist season in April.

The locations are:

**Albion Place city council staff car park, off Speedwell Street

**Both sides of Beaumont Street

**Both sides of St Giles, taking up half the carriageway but not the parking places, with bollards to protect passengers getting on and off.

Committee chairman Cllr Jean Fooks said: "If there is a big problem with any of these locations, we will make changes right away."

Coach drivers will be told that they are not allowed to park for more than about ten minutes at the locations and should not keep their engines running when they are dropping tourists off or picking them up.

The city council's tourism manager Jan Hull welcomed the proposals.

She said: "In the past, there has been no guidance at all on parking for tourist coaches, so most of them have headed for St Giles. This should be a major improvement."

Cllr Fooks added that another proposal to make St Giles the temporary location for buses during a month of repairs on Gloucester Green bus station was "odd".

"This would turn St Giles into one giant coach park, and we don't want that."

The Liberal Democrat councillor said she would be proposing Oxpens as the best location for buses while repairs are being carried out.

The matter will be discussed when the committee meets on November 7.