COLLECTORS and car park enthusiasts will have an opportunity to buy a piece of a muchloved Oxford landmark.

Selected bricks and rubble from the Westgate Shopping Centre’s multi-storey car park, currently being demolished, will be available to Oxford residents as souvenirs.

Pieces will be put on show at the Town Hall during an exhibition jointly run by the National Car Park Enthusiasts Association and trade association the Masonry Users Group.

Visitors will be able to buy any piece that catches their eye. The cost of bricks will vary depending on weight and quality.

A corner piece from the third storey, one of the most prized locations available, could set collectors back as much £34.

Oxford City Council executive board member John Tanner said the iconic piece of parking architecture had played host to key events like the Christmas Eve traffic jam of 2003, the second floor haunting of 1986 and the freeticket mix-up of 1999 caused by the Millennium Bug.

Now Mr Tanner has recommended residents act fast to secure pieces of concrete as souvenirs, or for use as doorstops or paperweights.

He said: “I shall put my brick on the mantelpiece of my front room, alongside pictures of my grandchildren.

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“If people want bricks from the Westgate, we will need to organise an orderly queue.

Hopefully we should have enough for everyone.

“I will miss the Westgate car park, admittedly in the same way that you miss a headache. I have been in Oxford for 30 years and wanted it to come down the entire time.”

Demolition of the car park began in February as part of £400m plans to overhaul the shopping centre.

Spokesman Hugo Tolarf said: “It is sad to see this masterpiece bulldozed so thoughtlessly.”

Proceeds from the sale of the bricks will go to building a scale model of the car park to be displayed in the newly refurbished Westgate centre.

THE Westgate Car Park is no more... but you can still let it live on in plenty of useful ways:

  • A doorstop
  • A paperweight
  • Mantelpiece ornament
  • Garden furniture
  • Pet rock