A COMMUNITY group’s survey has found the majority of Bicester residents would welcome larger clothing brands to town.

BicesterTAG (Traffic Action Group) carried out a survey of 338 people and found more than 220 of them would welcome larger brands such as Marks & Spencer and Next.

It comes as Cherwell District Council planning committee is set to make a decision on Oxford Road plans for three large retail units, three restaurants and a gym tomorrow.

BicesterTAG co-chairman Richard Mallows said: “We would welcome the addition of higher end retail brands such as Marks & Spencer and Next to the town, but the chosen location is not suitable.

“The A41 is already a known traffic blackspot and with the forthcoming expansion of Bicester Village, a new and larger Tesco Superstore and an office park we feel the traffic congestion from a retail site would guarantee gridlock for the town .”

A number of objections to the applica-tion have been received and largely agree the retailers would be welcome but it is proposed for the wrong site.

The application is recommended for refusal tomorrow but development promoters Consolidated Property Group (CPG) has asked that the decision is deferred to allow for concerns to be addressed.

The BicesterTAG survey can be seen at tinyurl.com/nfee69g