Council lifts "car ban that time forgot"

A decade-old ‘ban’ on private cars accessing Brighton’s Oxford Street from London Road has been overturned by the council.

The decision came in a meeting of the environment committee this week (Nov 26 2013).

Committee chair Cllr Pete West said:  “There is already a decade-old ‘ban’ on private cars entering Oxford Street from London Road, as our photo shows (above).

 “This is the car ban that time forgot.  The signs were put up for a ‘trial’ which apparently never reached a conclusion.  It’s illegal to enforce on such a trial so some drivers were making the turn anyway.

“We asked locals what they thought of the very old restriction installed under a previous administration.  Residents and traders spoke to us and we listened.

“This all came about because some residents were asking us to enforce the ban.  On discovering it was just a trial we realised we could not, under law. 

“Far from this being our proposal, we have simply consulted traders on a previous administration’s proposal.  Some people want the ban, others do not. 

“But as we felt buses were not hampered by people turning left we’ve now lifted the left turn ban, while the right turn ban remains.”