PLANS to build on a car park near Magdalen Bridge would be the “final nail in the coffin” of St Clements as a shopping area, traders in the area have warned.

With Oxford City Council understood to be set to make £3.5m from the major development, shops and restaurants accused the council of putting dozens of businesses at risk by allowing St Clements car park to be used for student accommodation.

At an angry meeting on Tuesday, retailers pledged to fight plans to build blocks of student accommodation housing 141 students on the busy car park, on which they say their restaurants and shops depend.

Restaurant owner Clinton Pugh said: “I think the majority of businesses will close if this goes ahead. This is the final nail in the coffin. This is a real kick in the teeth for people here. If it is not stopped, it will mean the closure of St Clements.”

Watkin Jones Group, the developer, this week submitted a planning application to build a six-storey building and three other buildings of three and four storeys on the city council-owned car park.

Although the buildings would be on stilts to allow 75 of the current 115 public parking spaces to ultimately be retained, traders fear that the closure of the car park during construction could prove to be the final straw for many businesses struggling in the harsh economic climate.

The city council has said that it hopes to provide alternative parking during this period, but it admitted this week that this was “proving difficult” to find a suitable solution. It is understood that the developer is to contribute £100,000 towards this alternative parking.

Traders at the meeting accused the city council of putting its own finances and the provision of student accommodation before business in East Oxford.

Mr Pugh, who owns Cafe Co-Co and two other restaurants in the Cowley Road, said: “What sort of message does this send out to business?

“The council will find that people are not going to lie down and take this. The council would never have contemplated something like this at the car park in Summertown.”

The Town Hall organised a competition to develop the site, won by Watkin Jones, which initially came up with three options showing blocks varying in height from three to 13 storeys.

Alan Grosvenor, of Sevenoaks Sound and Vision store in St Clements, said: “This could turn St Clements into a ghost town.

“The council is seeing the opportunity to get £3.5m. But there are far-reaching implications. They will lose much more in the long run when shops around here are empty and boarded up.”

Paul Gillespie, of Watkin Jones, said the company had chosen the option with the lowest buildings after fears that it could impact on views of Oxford’s ‘dreaming spires’.

The company said a number of Oxford colleges had expressed interest in the proposed student accommodation.

A spokesman for Oxford City Council, said: “The site was allocated for student accommodation and replacement car parking in our adopted local plan in November 2005. The Local Plan was consulted on in draft form on a number of occasions.

“There was also a public inquiry held over the Local Plan and further consultation was carried out after receiving the inspector’s report before full council adopted the plan in 2005.

“We have received a planning application to redevelop the site and we will be consulting local amenity groups and residents.

“We will give due consideration to all these comments when determining the application.

“We have been working hard to find a solution for the provision of a temporary car park within the St Clements area.

“However, this is proving difficult within the area.”