PROTESTERS pitched up at the Westgate shopping centre, Oxford, with a pirate ship, inflatable sharks and a samba band on Saturday.

Campaigners opposed to the multi-million-pound redevelopment were celebrating delays to work, which could set back the 2011 opening date.

The delay has been prompted by concerns over the outcome of a planning inquiry into compulsory purchase of land at the site.

The group, which thinks the scheme will lead to an increase in traffic and flooding, is calling for an Environment Agency assessment of the plan.