Police will enforce new 20mph speed limits in Oxfordshire after it was previously suggested they did not have the resources to do so.

Thames Valley Police questioned the applicability of the county council’s £8 million plan during consultations on the proposals.

But the council’s head of highways, Andrew Gant, confirmed to BBC Radio Oxford that this position had changed.

Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Matthew Barber said the force’s previous comments had been made for “technical reasons”.

Gant said police “started off objecting and essentially saying it was a county council matter and it wouldn’t be enforced – that has changed.”

Thames Valley Police previously told the council that “there should be no expectation that (they) would be able to regularly enforce the law if the speed limit is set too low”.

However, Barber said it has “always been the case” that officers would enforce the new limits.

“What’s really important is that we are focused on saving lives on our roads – any death on our roads in our area is one too many,” he said.

The council has approved more than 200 applications to reduce speed limits to 20mph in cities and towns since the scheme was first introduced in 2022.

Barber also pointed out that the £8 million scheme did not provide money for police to enforce the measures.

“Much of police resources will inevitably be focused on those areas that are most dangerous where… law enforcement can save the most lives, and those tend to be our fastest roads and dangerous intersections.

“That doesn’t mean police can’t enforce the law in those (20 mph) areas.”

Gant added that managing the new limits involved a “change in behavior.”

“It’s about getting used to the new normal over time, and that happens,” he said.

The comments come as much of Banbury, the county’s second largest town, prepares for become a 20 mph zone.