PLUS size shoppers are being squeezed out of Oxford city centre, it was claimed tonight.

The choice of places to buy clothes is dwindling and slimming groups have told of the problems members are now facing.

It comes after Evans, in Queen Street, which caters for women between the sizes of 14 and 32, announced it was set to close.

The Arcadia group, which runs Evans, confirmed the store would shut, but could not say when.

Sarah Hewitt, from Bicester, is a size 24 and said the closure left few places for larger women to buy clothes.

The 23-year-old said: “I like Evans because it adapts the fashions to bigger sizes. Once it goes there will be nowhere for larger ladies to shop.

“You can buy things on the internet, but it doesn’t make up for being able to try things on and see how they look.

“It amounts to size discrimination.”

The mother-of-one said she was trying to lose weight by attending Slimming World classes at Southwold School, in Bicester, once a week.

But she said she would now have to pay more than £7 to travel to Banbury on the bus if she wants to shop for new clothes that fit.

She added: “I am making efforts to lose weight, and it is going well, but I still want to look my best until I reach my target weight.”

Lucy Brown, who runs the Slimming World groups in Banbury and Bicester, said many of her members had told her of similar problems.

She said: “I used to be a size 22-24 and really the only place I could shop was Evans.

“A lot of our younger members have said how difficult it can be. You don’t just drop from a size 24 to a size 16; it happens gradually.

“One of the good things about losing weight is trying on clothes as you move down the plus sizes.”

Ms Brown said many shops which catered for plus sizes did not keep up with latest fashions.

She added: “Evans is good quality as well as being a bit more ‘with it’ than the other shops.

“It’s a real shame.”

awilliams@oxfordmail.co.uk