Thoughtless commuters whose cars clog up the entrance to an Oxford estate are getting the message - in the form of rude notices left on their windscreens.

Andrew Esson, co-director of graphic design firm Designers & Partners, keeps several scathing notices to post on cars that block the road outside his offices in Merewood Avenue, Sandhills, Headington.

He said his seven staff needed the space to park because without it they were forced to move their cars further into the estate, annoying residents.

"It's not because it's an irritant, it's potentially quite dangerous," he said.

"What prompted me to put notices up was some months ago when somebody parked a box van on one side of the road and a car was parked opposite it. They couldn't get the bus down the road. There was some concern about not being able to get a fire engine down."

He blames commuters travelling to London by bus who refuse to leave their cars in Thornhill park-and-ride, just the other side of the A40. He added: "The parking is free over there, I presume it's vandal-free. It's just laziness on the part of some people and if we don't say anything people feel free to park here all the time.

Mr Esson said no one has ever challenged him over covering cars in notices and he reckoned the campaign was quite effective because some drivers had started to park further up the road rather than on his doorstep.

He added: "I don't think the notices are very rude - they started out polite and got more sarcastic as time went on."

Neighbour Lisa Trevelyan, of Merewood Avenue, said: "It's just annoying that people think they can leave their car and it'll be safe because Sandhills is a nice estate. They just can't be bothered to walk from the park- and-ride."

David Yeoward, local Lib Dem city councillor, said residents were irate about the parking but it was perfectly legal.

The difficulty was, he added, that simply putting double yellow lines at the top of Merewood Avenue would only encourage people to drive further into Sandhills and park there.

"Some kind of residents' parking or restricted time might be possible but there would be problems with enforcement," he added.

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