KEBAB vans, peddlers and fast food sellers could pitch up along some of Oxford’s most iconic streets, thanks to a controversial decision by city councillors.

Places such Radcliffe Square, Merton Street and South Parks could be available to traders for a plot fee of £7,000 a year.

But the move could also rid the city of its problem with ‘rogue’ car dealers who use residential streets as unofficial forecourts.

Currently the city is divided into prohibited streets, where traders are automatically banned, and consent streets, where people are allowed to sell with a licence.

All other streets are classified as ‘undesignated’, meaning Oxford City Council has no enforcement rights over them.

But at the council’s general purposes licensing committee on Wednesday, councillors agreed all city streets should be made consent streets – giving officers greater jurisdiction and opening them up to street trading applications.

Annual fees for people trading every day cost £7,000.

Licensing and development team leader Dawn Cox said each application would be judged on a case by case merit.

She said: “There’s a whole list of criteria.

“There has to be consultation with planning, fire, police, the county council, highways, as well as local retailers and residents within the area.

“Traders won’t just suddenly appear on the street.

“People would definitely know about it, and be asked for their opinion.”

The new rules will allow enforcement officers to stop on-street car lots – using fines and court action – as traders parking cars along previously undesignated roads would now need permission. If they continue to sell without a licence, they can be fined or taken to court.

Cowley Marsh councillor Saj Malik said for years Cowley Road had been used to sell second-hand cars, with vehicles left parked sometimes for weeks or months.

He said: “This is a victory for local residents who have suffered over the years.”

But Pembroke College, which has been battling for a long time to get McCoys kebab van removed from Pembroke Square, said it would mean people living in the city would need to be ‘constantly on their toes’ watching out for applications in their own streets.

In a letter to the council, the college said: “The van attracts numerous customers who park (illegally) in Pembroke Square while collecting and sometimes continuing to eat their purchases while so parked.”

During the meeting, councillors agreed officers would speak to Hooshang Kaveh, who runs the McCoys fast food van, to see if there was a more ‘appropriate place for him to trade’.

But he said he did not want to move from the spot.

He said: “The position is the best in Oxford, it’s on a main road. None of the students agree with the college.

“Everybody likes it there. There are people who have finished work and it is a favourite of students.”

Peter Thompson, chairman of Oxford Civic Society, said he was ‘optimistic’ the city council would scrutinise each application thoroughly.

If given the go-ahead at a full council meeting next month, the new rules will swing into action by February.

Council officers have the powers to grant licences for anything up to three months, but for people wishing to apply for a full year’s licence will have face the general purposes licensing committee.