TRADERS were left fuming after a contractor left their machines and materials outside shops in Headington.

In September 1969, work began to build a pedestrian subway and seven loading bays in London Road.

Surrey-based builders Stanley Robertson and Co were awarded the £27,000 contract to complete the works, which was expected to take nine months.

But Wendy Coley-Moore and Mr L Hamilton-Smith, pictured here surveying the mess, were left less than impressed.

They compared the presence of large paving slabs to being 'behind a wall' and blamed Oxford City Council for allowing the builder to leave equipment on the site.

The owners of David Phillips, a furnisher, Hamilton-Smith, a fashion store and the Headington Travel Agency told out reporter John Chipperfield (whatever happened to him?) that they were worried their shops would be hidden and trade would suffer.

Once finished the underpass remained open for 30 years until it was shut in May 2010 as part of a scheme to spruce up the area.