AN ONLINE petition calling for two senior county councillors to resign has received 158 signatures since it went live on Monday.

Witney resident Paul Mills issued Oxfordshire County Council with a “vote of no confidence” in leader Ian Hudspeth and cabinet member for environment and transport David Nimmo Smith.

The petition said they had made “bad decisions” that prevented improvements on major roads such as the A34 and A40.

He said the current roadworks in Oxford, including Kennington Roundabout and Worcester Street, had made journeys three times longer, affecting schools, businesses, court cases and “causing a lot of distress for thousands of motorists”.

Our top stories

Mr Nimmo Smith said: “We have no intention of stepping down, at the moment all we are trying to do is make sure the roadworks we are doing will allow us to have a road network that does not grind to a halt in the future. There’s no way round it; we haven’t got a magic wand.”

County council spokesman Paul Smith said: “A petition requires 15,995 signatures for its subject to be debated at full council.”

To view the petition or add your name visit mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/mgEPetitionListDisplay.aspx

Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.