An Oxford hotelier has been forced to apologise for making a comparison between the Holocaust and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs).

Andrew Gant, cabinet member for highway management, branded hotelier Jeremy Mogford’s comments about him over email as “not acceptable”, after he was compared by Mogford to Josef Mengele.

Mengele was a German SS officer who performed deadly experiments on prisoners in Auschwitz II and was known as the Angel of Death.

Mr Mogford, the owner of Old Bank Hotel in High Street and Old Parsonage Hotel in Banbury Road, admitted he sent the message in “error” and apologised for “any offence caused" when quizzed by the Oxford Mail.

This newspaper has seen the email which was sent to resident Peter West at 8.45pm on Tuesday evening (February 14) and councillors were copied in alongside MP Anneliese Dodds.

Mr West is chair of the Headington and Marston Community Forum and has previously criticised Oxfordshire County Council for displaying inaccurate ANPR enforcement road signs.

READ MORE: Oxfordshire school road closure sign slammed as 'confusing'

Mr Mogford wrote: “This man Gant, along with his associates, are the Mengele equivalent……Experimenting with people (our city), without knowing what the consequences might be, which could and probably will be terminal.”

When the Oxford Mail questioned Mr Mogford about his comments, he said: “The message was sent in error.

“And of course I apologise for any offence caused.

“It was sent in error as a private message between myself and another individual.

“I regret sending the message.

“I’m not going to get into a shouting match with Andrew Gant.

“It should not have gone to Andrew Gant.”

Mr Mogford said he had reached out to Mr Gant and “put a call through".

LTNs were introduced in the Divinity Road, St Clement's and St Mary's areas of Oxford in May as part of a six-month trial.

Their introduction has caused controversy, with pro and anti-LTN campaigners clashing frequently.

In November 2022, the Oxford Mail reported that vandals set LTN bollards alight and drove over them.

READ MORE: Vandals set light to bollard in protest at Oxford LTN scheme

When the Oxford Mail pressed Mr Mogford on how he thought the public would react to his comments, he said:

“I don’t know really.

“A while back I suggested that the bus filters were going to divide our city in a very detrimental way

“I feel very strongly about these bus filters as it is a big subject.”

In the past, Mr Mogford compared new bus gates to the Berlin Walls.

He previously said: “The second 'battle of the bus-gates' (or 'traffic filters' as our city & county councils like to call them) is looming.

"These proposed Bus Gates Berlin Walls will effectively prevent you from crossing the city by car.”

The Oxford Mail approached MP Anneliese Dodds for comment and she is not commenting on the matter.

Mr Gant did not want to comment further on the matter.

Mr Mogford said he would not be attending the anti-LTN protest in the city centre this Saturday.

The police are on high alert for the event and have told the Oxford Mail they have a “comprehensive plan in place.”