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Tourist coach restrictions will soon be introduced in a popular Cotswolds town to protect primary school children.
Recommendations to Oxfordshire County Council have now been approved to ban large coaches from parts of Burford due to road safety concerns.
A report put forward at a Delegated Decisions by Cabinet Member for Transport meeting on 8 October advised a 12 metre length restriction for buses and coaches on Priory Lane, Burford.
It added that existing “School Keep Clear” markings should be formalised, alongside a “No Stopping 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday” restriction.
The proposals followed a number of “minor accidents” outside the school on Priory Lane.
Burford is a historic market town with “limited” areas to park a 15-metre-long coach in or near the town centre and allow it to turn round safely.
The long-running dispute over tourist coach access follows a decision to defer the proposals at a meeting in February 2025.
Coach restrictions will have an exemption for permit holders should the primary school on Priory Lane require the use of a vehicle over 12 metres long.
Burford Town Council has recommended that the length restriction on passenger coaches be put in place now before the two-year period from the first consultation in December 2024 elapses.
According to the council’s decision document, unless called in, changes will become effective at 5pm on 16 October.
Andrew Foster, deputy mayor of Burford Town Council, said: “The current situation is untenable - large coaches continue a/ to present safety and safeguarding concerns regarding pupils at the primary school, b/ to risk repeated damage to the posts segregating the footway from the road.”
He added: “The focus now should be on prioritising the safety of primary school children over the convenience of tour operators and their clients.”
The town council said that it understands the importance of tourism to the town, but “on balance, it is felt personal safety of children, residents and tourists should take priority”.
Resident Thomas Watkins said in a statement that Priory Lane is a “mediaeval road built for the horse and cart. It was simply not designed to accommodate the huge buses that continually use it”.
Read more: ‘England’s prettiest village’ to stop tourists paddling in picturesque river