BUSES driving through crowds of shoppers outside the main entrance to the new Westgate Centre are ‘an accident waiting to happen’ and should be re-routed immediately, frightened pedestrians have warned.

A surge in the numbers of people outside the centre’s Bonn Square facade after it opened earlier this week has prompted further calls for buses to be removed from Queen Street.

Shoppers have reported having to dodge passing buses after some vehicles returned to Queen Street after Tuesday's official opening.

Former steel fixer Christopher Williams, 75, from Marston, said he thought the new Westgate Centre was 'well worth exploring'.

But he added: "I had to dodge out of the way of the buses in my mobility scooter and I think the buses should come out of Queen Street now – the number of pedestrians has gone up massively and it's an accident waiting to happen.

"Transport Secretary Chris Grayling should come down here and see for himself and when he does he will pull the buses out.

"The area around Bonn Square is too busy now for buses – there are kids running about – and sooner or later there will be an accident."

Grandmother Margaret Lamacq, 77, from Witney, visited the John Lewis store at the centre on Tuesday with her husband Terry, 81.

She said: "My husband is deaf so he didn't hear a bus coming up behind us in Queen Street, but when he saw it he told me to look out.

"It was about six inches away from me and I got the fright of my life – buses should not be running in Queen Street – it's an accident waiting to happen."

Oxford City Council leader, Bob Price, said the situation in Bonn Square this week vindicated Oxfordshire County Council’s desire to keep the road free of buses – which was supported by the city council.

He said credit was due to bus drivers for taking care in the area, but feared the worst.

Mr Price said: “It is dangerous.

"If you did a health and safety assessment of the current situation anybody would see it as an unsafe way of conducting public transport.

“It’s not an acceptable mix.”

“Everybody is exercising due care and attention, but it only takes one person to make a slight mistake for there to be a serious accident.”

Mr Price said the city council was supportive of the county council’s original plans to remove buses from Queen Street, and would be again if it went back to the Transport Secretary about the issue.

The managing directors of Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach in Oxfordshire, both of which objected to a ban on buses in Queen Street, have emphasised the care their drivers are taking in the area.

Oxford Bus Company's managing director, Phil Southall, said: "Drivers are requested to drive at 5mph in Queen Street, as they always have been, and all of our drivers are reminded of this hourly throughout the day.

"Buses form the crucial central plank to the city's transport strategy, aimed at easing congestion and air pollution and helping to support the increased footfall into Oxford

"Keeping Queen Street open to buses is important to the overall operational and environmental viability of the city's transport system and we agreed to reduce the number of buses using it on a voluntary basis.

"As agreed with Oxfordshire County Council and Stagecoach, Queen Street is being monitored on an on-going basis following advice received from the Department for Transport."

Martin Sutton, Stagecoach in Oxfordshire managing director, said all of the company's drivers were vigilant about the speed limit and the need to adhere to it or drive slower during busy periods to ensure pedestrian safety.

He added: “As agreed with the council before the Westgate shopping centre opened, we are reducing the number of buses through Queen Street and will continue to monitor that on an ongoing basis.”

County council spokesman, Martin Crabtree, said the council and bus companies would continue to keep Queen Street under close review to ensure the system is working effectively.