Buses face Oxford Street ban

It is known as one of the most famous shopping streets in the world, but today Oxford Street was also named as one of the most dangerous - and congested.

Officials have carried out a study that reveals an alarming number of accidents involving buses. Now scores of services face being axed in an attempt to solve the problem. In the past three years 388 accidents have taken place, more than half of them involving buses. Almost a third of accidents left bus passengers with injuries, exposing what experts described as a "poor" level of driving.

Pedestrians were hit by buses in two out of 10 of the accidents. A study from consultants Mouchel Parkman commissioned by Westminster council found that bus drivers were causing accidents by:

Consultants also spotted buses blocking yellow box junctions - a practice now policed by the boroughs and Transport for London with CCTV. It is an offence that carries a ?100 fine.

Other causes of accidents were pedestrians ignoring crossing facilities.

Today Westminster council said it wanted to reduce the number of buses using Oxford Street by around a third to cut accident levels and high levels of congestion that, it believed, could damage trade in the area.

It aims to use a ?400,000 grant from Transport for London (TfL) to reposition bus stops and bus stands and divert buses along roads adjacent to Oxford Street.

The Mouchel Parkman study reveals that in spite of cars being banned from Oxford Street from 7am to 7pm, high congestion levels contributed to "many accidents'' and "significant delays'' for buses.

It took buses a full 20 minutes to travel from Marble Arch to Oxford Circus, a journey that can be tackled in 10 minutes on foot, it said.

It added: "It is clear that the number of taxis and private vehicles is low and congestion to buses... is caused almost totally by buses themselves with around 200 buses scheduled in each direction."

Researchers said there was a similar story at bus stops with the "high volume" of buses tryingto stop blocking vehicles behind. Researchers found that buses on Oxford Street were on average less than half full.

Backed by the New West End Company - a consortium of businesses in the area - Westminster's Transport and Infrastructure Scrutiny committee will discuss ways of redirecting bus services tomorrow.

Likely solutions include cutting the number of bus routes that terminate at Oxford Circus and placing bus stops on adjacent streets.

New bus stands may be created at Oxford Circus to reduce the number on Oxford Street.

TfL plans to introduce more "bendybuses" on Oxford Street routes to reduce the number of buses as they carry more passengers.

It may change traffic-light settings to give pedestrians more time to cross the road.

Councillor Colin Barrow, Westminster's cabinet member in charge of Transport and Infrastructure, said: "The situation in Oxford Street has clearly become problematic and the council has a duty to do what it can to deal with the issues raised by the numbers of buses using the street.

"It is unsatisfactory to have a situation where pedestrians are put at risk, the road is clogged and journey times on public transport are increased simply because we are trying to send too many buses down one of our busiest streets."

A Westminster spokesman said: "Nothing has been decided yet - we still have to consult with local residents."