A DISABLED woman has called for roadworks in Bicester town centre to be made more pedestrian friendly.

Susan Paton said at the moment disabled people and pedestrians were left marooned on either side of Manorsfield Road because of work to redevelop the area.

The work is the first phase of a £70m scheme by Cherwell District Council and Sainsbury’s to transform the heart of the town centre. It includes a supermarket, a seven-screen cinema, new retail and restaurant units, a bus interchange, and a 566-space car park.

Phase one, which started in August, involves moving the River Bure from one side of Manorsfield Road to the other.

But at the moment both sides of Manorsfield Road have been dug up and the footpath on the east side has been demolished, meaning pedestrians who want to reach shops in Manorsfield Road have to walk there via Market Square.

Mrs Paton, 49, who has ME and Fibromyalgia Syndrome, which leaves her in pain if she walks too far, but has had to make tricky journeys to avoid the works.

In the first incident she parked in the Bure Place car park so that she and husband Bill could go to the NatWest bank and then shopping in Tesco.

But instead of being able to cut across from the car park to the bank, in Manorsfield Road, she had to walk through Crown Walk, to Market Square and then around to Manorsfield Road.

She said: “It was really bad. By the time I had been to the bank we had to sit down. I was in so much pain I had to sit in the car while Bill did the shopping. It was ridiculous.”

Days later she rode her disability scooter from their home in Kingclere Road to Bure Place.

But at Manorsfield Road, her husband had to lift the scooter down from the kerb, and she had to hold her hand up to stop traffic and cross.

Previously there was a crossing area with dropped kerbs and a traffic island.

Former administrator Mrs Paton said: “It needs to be safer, so people can cross the road easily, and so people with a disability can get to the shops.

“We need to be able to access the bank and should not have to walk all the way around.

“I would like someone in charge to try and make the trip as a disabled person.”

A spokesman for construction firm Kier Moss said highways inspectors checked the site daily to ensure it met safety standards. He added more signs would be installed to direct pedestrians.

He said: “The need to maintain safe vehicle and pedestrian access around the works in Manorsfield Road is something that we take very seriously.”

He said there was a footpath on the western side of Manorsfield Road, with dropped kerbs.

The road works are due to finish in March.

bicester@oxfordmail.co.uk