PROPOSALS to charge thousands of Oxford residents for parking in their own street could face a legal challenge from Oxford City Council.

City councillors believe Oxfordshire County Council may have over stepped the mark in its determination to make residents in the city pay for parking and visitor permits.

The city's law officers have been asked to investigate whether a £40,000 consultation may have been prejudiced by the county council's deputy leader, David Robertson.

The law officers will be focusing on comments made by Mr Robertson, which appeared in The Oxford Times, when he suggested the consultation exercise should not be regarded as a referendum.

Questionnaires about parking permit charges have been sent out to 25,000 homes. But the city council says that as well as being a waste of money, with the result a foregone conclusion, the consultation may now be in trouble legally.

Mr Robertson has repeatedly made clear that permit charging is already agreed county council policy and wants Oxford's residents parking to be in line with places such as Abingdon and Henley.

But the full city council passed a motion condemning his intervention. The motion says: "The 'consultation' being conducted by the county council is biased and has been prejudiced by comments from the relevant Cabinet member in The Oxford Times."

Law officers have now been asked to "explore all possible avenues for mounting a legal challenge if the county council proceeds with the scheme."

City councillors are also anxious to question the legality of the county council's intention to charge residents for parking permits when it cannot guarantee parking spaces.

The county council is proposing to make residents pay £40 a year for each of the first two permits issued in most residents' parking zones. A three-car family would find itself with a £160 bill.

The proposed charges have infuriated residents. This week Oxford City Council put itself at the head of the opposition, with city councillors condemning the proposals as being unfair, unjustifiable and discriminating against people on low and fixed incomes. It was also held to be counter to the principles of the Oxford Transport Strategy.

Labour city councillor and former Lord Mayor Bob Price said: "Mr Robertson has already indicated that he doesn't see the consultation influencing the decision on permits. There may be changes at the edges but the principle has been decided.

"The consultation is a waste of money but it is also potentially unlawful. It is a ridiculous questionnaire that does not give people the chance to say what they think."

Mr Price said public bodies should undertake consultations with open minds and not obvious bias.

Green councillor Sushila Dhall, who backed the motion, said: "If people have the clear impression that the result of this consultation is a foregone conclusion, that is because the Conservative-controlled county council has given that impression. People are feeling angry and frustrated."

David Robertson, the county council cabinet member for transport, said: "This is not a referendum. This council's policy is to make charges to offset the cost of administration and enforcement in the residents' parking zones."

Mr Robertson said the introduction of permit charges in Oxford were designed to put right an inconsistency and apply the council's policy fairly across Oxfordshire.

He added: "There are choices offered in terms of cost. If people use the consultation to make sensible comments we shall listen. As to the question of what will we do if everyone says 'no', that is something to answer when we get to that stage."

The consultation, which the county council has been legally obliged to hold, ends on July 20 , with the county council to announce its decision in September.

Last year Oxfordshire County Council came under fire for ignoring the outcome of a five-week consultation on where new homes should be built in Oxfordshire.

There was a big vote in favour of building 8,000 new homes outside Oxford. But the county council's Cabinet endorsed a policy of building thousands of new homes in Bicester and Didcot.