A PLAN to create a new bus route in Didcot to transport shoppers to the revamped Orchard Centre look set to be approved.

Work is due to start this year on the £50m second phase of the shopping centre, including six new restaurants and an M&S food hall, with shops opening in 2017.

Despite objections from residents, county council leaders are tomorrow recommended to approve the creation of the new route along Station Road. The two-way route, controlled by rising bollards, has been suggested because the existing bus route is where the new shopping centre extension will be built.

Some residents in Station Road have objected and last year Jenny Wilson and fellow residents gathered to protest.

Heather Maunder, 33, who lives in a three-bedroom house in Station Road with her son Owen, eight, said she was opposed to the scheme. The student nurse said: “We will lose two parking spaces and there could also be vibration from the buses.”

A report to cabinet member for the environment David Nimmo Smith said the police had no objection to the scheme but were concerned pedestrians had no specific crossing provided.

The report said there was nothing to suggest the creation of the bus route would cause any structural damage to homes as the road was the main town centre bus route until 2002.

It added: “There will continue to be footways on both sides of the carriageway, ensuring sufficient segregation from other road users.”

The meeting takes place at County Hall in New Road, Oxford, starting at 10am.