TESCO has moved one step closer to finally converting a derelict Oxford pub into a new store.

City council planners have once more recommended that councillors grant permission for work to turn the former Fox and Hounds, in Abingdon Road, into an Express store after a month of delays.

On December 8, councillors postponed a vote on whether to allow the development, saying they needed more information about the impact of the plans on traffic.

Neighbours raised concerns about cars turning right in and out of the store at peak times, and warned motorists may park illegally on the pavement to use a proposed ATM cash machine at the new shop.

But Oxfordshire County Council has dismissed concerns, saying the development of a nine-space car park is “unlikely to have a significant impact” on traffic, and saying the proposed store’s access “is not an unusual situation.”

County Hall highways experts said existing pedestrian crossings were already adequate and insisted measures could be imposed in advance to prevent people parking illegally near the cash machine.

Now planners will again advise councillors to grant permission for the controversial development at a West Area planning committee meeting on January 11.

The owner of the nearby Nisa Local store, Mohammad Afzal, said: “I do not think that anything has been resolved, and the issues with the application are still there.

“It is impossible to allow people to turn right in and out of the store.

“The fact is the plans are still dangerous. It is definitely not a good place for a store.”

Mr Afzal said councillors should stand up to the supermarket at the January committee hearing.

At the last planning meeting on December 8, committee chairman Oscar Van Nooijen accused Tesco of using “bullying” tactics to force the council into granting planning permission for the store, after the chain’s planning consultant Matthew Roe said the company could build a store anyway if the council rejected its planning applications.

The old pub, on the corner of Weirs Lane, has lain empty since 2007 and was gutted by fire in 2009.

Tesco has faced a long-running battle to revamp the site and open a new Express shop. Three previous attempts to build a store with flats above have been blocked by the city council and a Government planning inspector.

Tesco’s corporate affairs manager, Simon Petar, said: “We are very pleased that Highways Officers have recommended our Express proposal for approval, with the key decision to be made by the West Area planning committee on January 11.

“Our plans continue to attract significant levels of local support and we hope the committee is now minded to approve.”