A ONCE thriving hairdresser's shop, which now sits unused and ‘has become an eyesore for all’, could be revamped into a restaurant if plans are given the go-ahead by Oxford City Council.

The team behind the planning application already run the Arbequina tapas restaurant next to the empty unit on Cowley Road, and have been there for 13 years including when it used to be Door 74, but plan to spruce up the empty site and turn it into a foodie haven.

They say that the new cafe will be ‘separate, but linked’ to the restaurant, which is the sister setting to one of Oxford's most popular eateries, Oli's Thai.

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In the plans, which can be found the council’s planning register, the applicant wrote: “We are well aware of the difficulties that running a business on Cowley Road can face, and feel well versed in how to make one work.

“Our proposed development is small, the site is only 60m2 in its entirety and will have no impact on the surrounding area, in fact it will be the opposite as the site at number 72 has fallen into terrible disrepair and actually been derelict since the start of August 2016, and as such is a real blot on the surrounding and actually downgrading the current commercial shopping area.”

ALSO READ: Restaurant review: Arbequina, Cowley Road

As it is, the 60square meter site is empty.

There is a flat above it, a Jamaican eating house next door, and Arbequina the other side.