Supermarket chain Sainsbury's is closing one of its Oxford stores.

The company has announced it is ending its relationship with petrol company Shell and will be pulling out of its forecourt site in London Road, Headington.

The supermarket chain said it was unable to give an exact date for the closure of the filling station and store, but anticipated it would happen early next month.

A spokesman said: "This is one of 25 similar Shell forecourt stores we are closing down.

"It will take a while to remove fixtures and fittings. We do not know who will be replacing us at the site."

Local residents have been surprised by the news, and many of them have commented on how busy the shop usually is.

Lesley Hill, 61, of Lime Walk said: "Every time I go in there it's always busy and queues 10 people deep are not unusual.

"I would have thought they were making money hand over fist in there.

"People often stop to get petrol and do a bit of shopping and I often find they have things that you can't get in the other Headington supermarkets.

"It will be interesting to see what it is replaced with. I hope that it won't just be a bog standard petrol station shop that sells junk food and discount CDs."

The site's temporary closure will also have an impact on motorists, as the nearest petrol station will be the BP garage in Cherwell Drive, Marston.

Nina Morris, 40, from Wharton Road, Headington, regularly stops at the petrol station in the mornings before driving to work.

Ms Morris said: "It's going to be a real pain having to alter my commute and will add time. I hope they get it up and running again soon."

A spokesman for Shell said: "The station will only be closed temporarily for a rebranding and we hope to get this done as soon as possible, as we realise how popular it is."