RADICAL proposals to shut Oxford High Street to cars would create chaos through the Oxford University science area and put pedestrians and cyclists at risk, it was claimed.

traffic consultant Mike Slinn, working for Oxford University, told the Oxford Transport Strategy public inquiry that closing High Street would drive cars down Longwall Street, creating a bottleneck. He said: "There will be long queues of stationary traffic, worsening air quality."

He also criticised the reduction in parking for the disabled in the area.

Mr Slinn pointed out that a Local Plan inquiry inspector viewed the science area as unsuitable for a significant increase in traffic.

He told the inquiry at Oxford Town Hall: "The impact on the science area would be so severe the whole scheme should be re-thought."

Oxford University is also angered by plans to reduce the number of staff car parking spaces in the area. The University wants the city and county councils to consider closing Longwall Street to cars or introducing a limited access barrier.

Simon Reedhead, counsel for the University, criticised the proposed use of signalling to move traffic along more quickly. He said this would make Longwall Street more attractive to traffic.

He said: "The result of increased traffic would be an increased accident rate for cyclists and pedestrians."

But Adrian Trevelyan Thomas, for both councils, said the only organisation to gain from closing Longwall Street would be the University.

He said: "It would be very nice for the University indeed to have a private street through the science area, but at the expense of considerable disbenefit to the wider community."

He added: "The purpose of the closure would benefit a particular section of Oxford, namely the University, at the expense of the generality of people living in and around Oxford."

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