Side streets in Oxford which no-one appears to own could become blocked with parked cars when they are left out of a controlled parking zone planned for next year.

Residents living in the Marston South area are holding a meeting next week to discuss the dilemma posed by two unclassified lanes linking Ferry Road and Edgeway Road, including one which acts as a path for cyclists and pedestrians.

The residents' parking zone has been proposed because of commuters leaving cars in the streets in the area but, because Oxfordshire County Council has never adopted the lanes, they will not be included in the zone, prompting fears they will become clogged with cars.

Mohammed Altaf-Khan, Liberal Democrat county councillor for Marston and Headington, is particularly concerned about cars parking on the bottom link road, known as Ferry Lane, because it is heavily used as a continuation of the cycle track and footpath through the University Parks.

He said: "It's a very simple option to keep the land for pedestrians and cyclists. Otherwise it will be open with no enforcement, so people will be able to park and then go into town.

"It will be full of cars and there will be no room for cyclists and pedestrians. They should adopt this lane so that double yellow lines can be put there."

The county council has decided not to take any pre-emptive action, but intends to monitor the situation.

Craig Rossington, a senior transport planner for the council, said: "If there turns out to be a problem, we will of course investigate possible solutions.

"While it looks very unlikely that we will be able to trace the owner of Ferry Lane, these might include taking over responsibility for the lane so we could prevent parking there if we needed to.

"The same approach could be taken for the other private lane that connects Ferry Road with Edgeway Road much closer to Marston Road."

A residents' meeting will be held in the Scout Hut, on the corner of William Street and Marston Road, on Monday at 7.30pm.