CARS could be banned from Oxford streets if city councillors agree to roll out an event that has been held across the country.

Green councillors want to develop plans to shut off traffic in parts of the city as part of World Car Free Day in September.

It has already taken place in London, Edinburgh and Norwich in recent years.

Last week, Leeds City Council also agreed to close roads in three areas to traffic on September 22 as part of the environmental event.

Green councillor Dick Wolff will propose a motion to improve air quality and to ‘enhance enjoyment of historic settings and improve visitor experience’ at a meeting tomorrow night.

Many councillors have raised concerns about the impact of tourism on the city centre, especially from idling coaches parked up on some Oxford’s busiest streets.

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Forcing people out of their cars in still-to-be-decided areas could also encourage people to ‘discover the pleasures of walking and cycling’ in the city and could increase footfall to shops, the Green Party motion will say.

Just Cambridge has a higher proportion of its population that cycles to work or its place of learning than Oxford.

If the city council signs up to bar vehicles from certain areas later this year, it will be helped by the World Car-Free Network.

It says it is the ‘hub of the global car-free movement, which promotes alternatives to car dependence and automobile-based planning and works to improve the quality of life for all’.

Carbusters, an international organisation to boost the profile of the car-free movement, was founded in 1997 and eventually became the 'network'.

It said its idea is to build a ‘decentralised, structured network in which anyone agreeing with the goals of the network can take an active part’.

It continues: “The network aims to provide a voice for its members at the international level and to create a framework for its members’ international projects.”

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Other celebrated car-free days have been held in Bogota, Colombia, Iceland’s capital Reykjavik, Bath and La Rochelle in France.

The motion will be discussed at the end of the city council’s meeting tomorrow evening.

It starts at 6pm but the motions are usually heard from after 7pm.