A NEW Waitrose store on Oxford’s Botley Road could be open by the middle of next year after the demolition of the existing building was given the go-ahead.

Demolition work on the former Halfords and MFI building is due to start next month with the clearance work expected to finish before the end of the year.

Proposals for the 24,500 sq ft store were approved by Oxford City Council’s west area planning committee in May.

Waitrose’s second Oxford store – after its 13,000 sq ft Headington branch – will provide 150 parking spaces and is expected to create 160 new jobs.

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Paul Dimoldenberg, spokesman for the supermarket’s developers Rockspring, said: “The contractor is commencing the demolition contract works in November with the actual building demolition commencing a few weeks later into the programme.“ He said if the work goes ahead as planned the new store could be open by the middle of next year.

The planned store will be significantly smaller than the site’s existing building.

Planning permission for the new store was granted on the condition a pedestrian crossing is paid for by Waitrose.

The building was vacated by MFI in 2008 after the firm went into administration and by Halfords following its closure in January this year.

It was used by Cancer Research UK from August 2013 until June this year while the site’s long-term future was decided.

Labour Jericho and Osney city councillor Susanna Pressel said: “I think everyone will be pleased to see the disappearance of the enormous and hideous building currently on that site.

“People are still, however, very worried about the impact of yet more traffic on Botley Road – first construction traffic and then the extra shoppers.”

Fellow Labour ward councillor Colin Cook said: “I’m glad to see things are coming along and I hope it won’t cause too much disruption and noise during the demolition.

“There is going to be a traffic issue but we are where we are, there was nothing we could do to stop a food outlet being put there. This development is the least worst result in terms of a food outlet.

“People travelling along the Botley Road to get to other food stores may no longer have to make that journey so things may even improve – we’ll have to wait and see.”

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