A MAJOR scheme to transform the heart of Oxford’s Clarendon Centre has been submitted to Oxford City Council.

The scheme would demolish the existing Currys store and make improvements to the Shoe Lane entrance into the city centre mall. The electrical retailer is expected to stay in the centre.

The proposals, from Clarendon LP GP Ltd, would create a new three-floor shopping unit, with talks already underway with major high street fashion retailers. Council officers said the scheme, which will take up to two years to complete, would “improve the shopping experience” while creating a more eye-catching entrance from New Inn Hall Street.

The current Shoe Lane entrance is currently flanked on either side by service yards, which would be refurbished. The firm would not say which firms have expressed an interest.

Stone paving will be placed outside the entrance, leaving open the option of later continuing the repaving up to New Inn Hall Street.

A council report said the redevelopment would tackle crime. It said: “The service area with the sliding gates will reduce the opportunity for this area to become an area for potential offenders to loiter and wait to commit crime.”

The proposed extension would increase the height of a section of the Clarendon Centre roof, but officers say it would not harm views from nearby Carfax Tower.

But the nearby Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies has raised concerns about noise and the duration of the work.

Fiona Kilby, administrator at the centre, at St Michael’s Hall, opposite the existing Curry’s site, also said the changes would restrict access. This risked vehicles damaging a listed garden wall and the hall itself, she said.

Currys spokesman Anina Castle said: “We are in negotiations with the landlord to potentially resite our Currys store within the Clarendon Centre, but any moves are subject to the results of the planning application the landlord is making.

“We are committed to remaining in the centre and in developing our business in Oxford.”

The scheme was presented to the council’s West Area Planning Committee on Tuesday.

Officers are set to give final permission when they have reached an agreement with the developer on how much cash it should put towards city infrastructure, thought to be £182,322.

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