PROPOSALS to roll out a more localised test and trace system in north Oxfordshire were shut down by Conservatives at a full council meeting.

Liberal Democrat councillor Katherine Tyson put forward the motion in solidarity with both Oxford city and Ian Hudspeth, leader of Oxfordshire County Council, to call for the Government to enable local schemes to be built on.

The motion, seconded by Green councillor Ian Middleton, asked the leader of Cherwell council to communicate support for a more local system to the director of public health and the leader of the county council, and to write to MPs asking to support a more localised system across the county.

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But it failed to gain support with the Conservatives saying they had whipped their vote against the motion because, according to councillor James McNamara, it had come from the Progressive Oxfordshire group.

All of the Labour group on the council supported the motion.

Ms Tyson said: “It's disappointing that Conservative members of Cherwell District Council refused to put the needs and livelihoods of our residents before their obsession with being the 'controlling group'.

"I never imagined that a cross-party motion supported by medical professionals would cause such vitriol. I had hoped that the council would have been professional and take the current health crisis seriously, but sadly they’re more interested in mud-slinging and political rivalries.”

Councillor Ian Middleton said: “Instead of focusing on what is best for our residents, Cherwell’s Conservatives put politics above public safety."