THE OWNER of Freud, the popular Oxford bar, is objecting to the £500m scheme to transform the Radcliffe Infirmary into a university campus.

David Freud is concerned about the impact the massive development will have on his church building, which has been converted into a bar and restaurant.

And he warned that the university masterplan risked committing "cultural vandalism" by ignoring the importance of the neighbouring grade II-listed building.

The university consulted in the spring on proposals that would see a two-floor library built on the site, along with new mathematics, philosophy, history and linguistics departments.

But Mr Freud fears that the university is planning to build far too close to the former St Paul's Church in Walton Street, which has been Freud since 1988.

And he says the former church, built in Greek Revival Style, will be dominated by new three-storey buildings that would surround it.

Mr Freud, who read English at St Catherine's College, Oxford, and later studied architectural history, said: "Our building is listed and it is of real historical merit. We have been trying hard to look after it.

"The masterplan proposes three-storey buildings on each side of St Paul's, which would be close to the church with a narrow footpath in between."

The church building, dating from the 1830s, still has the original stained glass windows and Mr Freud warned new buildings would block out natural sunlight.

He has now written to both the city council and the university to set out his concerns. But he fears he faces a solitary battle, with all the other surrounding buildings owned by the university.

"There is a sense that the university is so huge and powerful, that if it wants to do something, it will go ahead and do it. In Oxford it is hard to stand up to the university.

"But not all the things it has done in recent years have been successful. "

He criticised the masterplan for suggesting that St Paul's church had been originally designed to be part of a tight street frontage.

He said: "The university has a planning obligation to enhance the setting of the church.

"What I am upset by is seeing my old university making up history to justify cultural vandalism.

"It is interesting that they think a historic building can be enhanced by concealing it."

The university said it was still considering the responses to a public consultation on its masterplan for the Radcliffe Infirmary site.

A university spokesman said: "Mr Freud's comments will form part of the public consultation process that the university has just undertaken.

"The masterplan is currently being reviewed in the light of all the comments received, and it is hoped that a submission can be made to Oxford City Council in September."

Building work on the RI site should begin before the end of the year, with work to continue for 20 years.

The masterplan shows three sweeping boulevards, which would run across the site to the Radcliffe Observatory in Green College, with three tree-lined roads running to the OUP building, Cardigan Street and Somerville College.

A £10m purpose-built health centre for Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust will be the first building to open in 2009. It will be followed by a mathematics institute in mid 2010.

The only buildings expected to be retained on the 10.5-acre site are the main Radcliffe Infirmary building facing Woodstock Road and St Luke's Chapel.