ROADWORKS and building work around Oxford are “restricting everything” according to organisers of the annual St Giles Fair.

Thousands of people are expected to visit the popular historic fair next week, due to be opened on Monday at 11am by Lord Mayor Rae Humberstone.

Fair organisers have been planning and preparing for months but said roadworks around the city, as well as the scaffolding outside the Randolph Hotel following the fire there earlier this year, have been giving them a headache.

Oxford City Council’s fair superintendent, Julia Kidd, said: “We usually put temporary toilets in Beaumont Street where the hotel is, but we can’t this year as it is so restricted. So we have only put them in Pewsey Street.

“We also have a control point pod there, where stewards and police can touch base, but we’ve had to move this too. They will be meeting in the St John Ambulance tent.

“The street is very restricted and there are a lot of big lorries that will have to get through.

Ms Kidd also said the roadworks in Frideswide Square, Cutteslowe and Wolvercote roundabouts, and the A34 Milton Interchange could cause fairground lorries to be delayed.

She said: “Some of the fairground equipment will be coming in that way. But it is what it is. That will impact us, and the rest of the traffic too.”

The fair will see the closure of St Giles from just after midnight on Sunday to 8.30am on Wednesday. Visitors will be able to enjoy a variety of different fairground attractions, including thrill rides, dodgems and the traditional Galloping Horses carousel.

A highlight again this year will be Air, a huge mechanical octopus that swings and spins riders 100ft overhead.

The council’s fair co-ordinator, Mike Newman, said everything was going to plan, despite some struggles with road and building works.

He said: “There are all the same sort of attractions as before. One new to this year, which has been here before but not recently, is Stargate, which throws people around in the air.

“All the road closure signs are in place too. People need to be prepared to find another route.”

Ms Kidd added: “The bike racks will be pulled up on Saturday and the toilets will go in on Friday. The phone boxes will be boarded up too, just in case.”

Last year the fair saw about 60,000 people on the first day and organisers hope this year will be just as busy.

St Giles Fair dates back to 1625, when a parish festival to mark the feast of St Giles was created.

It is held every year on the Monday and Tuesday after St Giles Day, September 1.

As well as St Giles, Magdalen Street and neighbouring streets including Beaumont Street will be closed at their junctions with St Giles. Buses in out of Oxford from the north will be diverted with temporary bus stops set up.

Visit oxford.gov.uk for more information about road closures.