Tories are ho-ho-hoping to promote some festive cheer this Christmas - with a tongue-in-cheek card about the Oxford Transport Strategy.

The bright red card has been a talking point in county hall and has raised wry smiles from all parties.

The front cover, which depicts a long line of sleighs, reads: "Oxfordshire County Council would like to apologise for the late arrival of this year's Christmas presents..."

On the inside it continues: "...which is in no way due to the Oxford Transport Strategy!" It goes on to wish the recipient a 'Merry Christmas and a congestion-free New Year' alongside a drawing of Santa at a set of traffic lights.

Conservative group leader Keith Mitchell said: "Christmas is a happy time of year and we wanted to reflect that in our cards.

"This one shows that we have a sense of humour."

Transport secretary John Prescott has received a card along with former cabinet minister John Redwood, who recently attacked the controversial OTS. Also on the mailing list is TV's Top Gear programme, which broadcast an edition knocking the OTS, Conservative leader William Hague, and Labour county councillor John Power, an outspoken critic of the scheme.

To make sure the Tories get their point across, a message on the back of the card reads: "We would like to apologise for the suggestion on the front of this card that Oxfordshire County Council may be on the verge of apologising for wasting £20m of your money on a traffic jam.

"This was down to some Christmas cheer and was merely meant to be satirical."

Labour group leader Brian Hodgson said: "Christmas is all about fun and everyone has taken this in the spirit it was intended."

Story date: Saturday 18 December

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.