DRIVERS in Oxford’s Cowley Road are being warned they face disruption for more than a year as building work begins on a former cycle shop.

In May, Beeline Bicycles moved from 59-63 Cowley Road to their new base at 205 Cowley Road.

Staff from Cowley-based building firm Benfield and Loxley will start work on Monday to demolish the old shop and build a new retail unit in its place with flats above.

Beeline moved to its new premises in May after terminating its lease on the old premises with landlord RTH Holdings.

The cycle shop had been on the site for about 22 years.

Damon Twist, 37, from Oxford, assistant manager for Beeline, said: “Our old building will be knocked down and redeveloped for shops, with flats above.

Construction work will start on Monday and is expected to last for 60 weeks .

Oxfordshire County Council has advertised no waiting and no loading restrictions from 7.30am to 9am and from 4pm to 6.30pm on the south side of Cowley Road, close to where the work is being carried out.

County council spokesman Martin Crabtree said: “The restriction has been advertised, as building work will be carried out to 59-63 Cowley Road by Benfield and Loxley.

“They will be installing hoardings outside these properties, which will need to be extended into the highway when they receive deliveries.

“In addition to the hoardings, a protected walkway will be installed.

“Apart from the loading and waiting restriction, there will be no problems with access to other properties and no changes to waiting or loading restrictions elsewhere.”

Matthew Harris, a director at Shotover-based RTH Holdings, landlord and developer of 59-63 Cowley Road, said: “The work will last about a year and we will obviously try to minimise any disruption to traffic.

“Planning permission was granted some time ago and one big retail unit will be built with flats on top.

“Beeline Bicycles terminated their lease on 59-63 Cowley Road early and has now moved.

“The new retail unit could be divided and you can’t rule out a bike shop going in there again – bikes are booming at the moment. The property is now being marketed.”

Elise Benjamin, Green city councillor for Iffley Fields, who lives in Magdalen Road, off Cowley Road, said: “Drivers will have to be patient and we are hoping the work does not cause too much disruption. I will be keeping an eye on this on behalf of residents and other businesses.”

Another bike store, Cycle King in Cowley Road, was destroyed by a huge fire on March 31 and has moved to new premises in Cowley Road, close to the new Beeline shop.

Sara Murray, managing director of Benfield and Loxley, was unavailable for comment.