BUSINESSES who feel they are being pushed out of Cornmarket Street by illegal traders could crack down on the problem by paying for a bylaw to outlaw peddling.

Companies in central Oxford are being asked to pay about 1.5 per cent extra on their business rates to be ploughed back into the area - turning the area into a Business Improvement District (BID) and raising up to £5m in five years.

City centre management company OX1 has pledged that if businesses support the plans, they will provide money so Oxford City Council can introduce a by-law which would ban peddling.

OX1 chief executive Oliver O'Dell said: "I think it is critical for local businesses. If there are activities in the streets outside the front doors of these businesses they should be in some way adding value, in terms of attracting people to the streets, rather than competing for attention and being disruptive.

"Because Cornmarket Street has the highest footfall, it attracts people trading with pedlars licences, some without, and buskers as well.

"Not all of those activities are unwelcome but it has to be managed in a way that means either activities are happening in the appropriate place - which might not be Cornmarket Street - or the less desirable activity that is not of the right quality is moved away altogether.

"We have had conversations with Oxford City Council and we need to work with their lawyers."

Arguments over the difference between street trading, which has to be licensed and is only allowed in one spot in Cornmarket Street, and peddling, which can be done by anyone with a Pedlar's Certificate but only permits people to stop, make a sale and move on, can make it difficult to prosecute.

Liam Moore, of Bangles in the Covered Market, said he was unsure if a by-law was the way forward.

He said: "They have admitted it is illegal anyway, so do we need a by-law to stop them doing something which is already illegal?

"It's chaos and something needs to be done. Cornmarket just looks scruffy and it's wrong. It's not selling Oxford at all."

Andrew Hill, manager of John Gowing Jewellers which is also in the market, said: "It sounds like a good plan if it would make it easier for them to enforce whatever legislation already exist.

"I don't think there is any doubt it would be a great thing for them to do, although I am staggered that the council only employs an enforcement officer 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday."

To win BID status, OX1 must secure a 'double majority' - the majority of businesses must vote in favour, and those in favour must account for more than 50 per cent of the total rateable value of business in the agreed area.

OX1, which hopes to hold the vote next July, will publish more details later this month.