A CITY centre restaurant closed due to tough competition and a reduction in footfall, its owner has revealed.

The Buttery restaurant in Broad Street opened in 2002 following the closure of Thorntons book store.

But after a fall in takings at the eatery, manager Paul Hornsby decided to close.

He also runs The Buttery boutique hotel and Oxford Campus Stores and is confident they will continue to be busy in 2018.

Mr Hornsby said: “We didn’t want to close the restaurant but we realised we were fighting a losing battle.

“There are quite a few street fairs and festivals held in Broad Street throughout the year and if stalls are selling food then people will buy it from the stalls rather than visit the restaurant.

“In recent years there has been so much more competition - Boswell’s has a cafe and so does the Bodleian’s Weston Library.

“There are lots of new places you can eat at the Westgate Centre and of course in Broad Street.

“People only buy lunch once a day and if they are visiting one of the restaurants in the Westgate Centre then they won’t be coming to us.”

Mr Hornsby said takings fell by thousands of pounds in one week in August when a German-style beer festival was staged to celebrate Oxford’s twinning links with Bonn.

He added: “Footfall in Broad Street is diminished - it’s partly the Westgate effect - so we had to make a decision to close the restaurant because it was losing money.”

Mr Hornsby’s wife Johanna Moss runs the business with Mr Hornsby, Ms Moss’s sister Sally Moss, and shop manager Gillian Mace.

He is confident that there will be plenty of customers for the 16-bedroom hotel and Oxford Campus Stores for years to come.

University clothing is sold at Oxford Campus Stores and some items are now being sold in the premises where the restaurant used to operate.

Mr Hornsby added that city centre rents were expensive and he has also faced a big rent increase.

He said: “Oxford is busy with visitors all year round and the hotel’s guests come from all over the world, including America and China.”

Shop manager Gillian Mace said: “I do think the Westgate Centre has had a harmful effect on footfall in this part of the city centre.

“It will help when empty units in Cornmarket Street are filled.”

Cath Kidston in Broad Street relocated to the Westgate Centre after it reopened in October.