THE city may be miles from the nearest seaside but a Cowley shopping centre has brought a bit of the beach to Oxford this summer.

Complete with buckets, spades and ice cream, families can enjoy the manmade beach every day for free from now until September 5 at Templars Square.

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Located just outside of the shopping centre's entrance next to Wilko, the frame for the beach was supplied by RAW, which is based in Blackbird Leys and runs a workshop where people with learning disabilities, mental health problems or from a disadvantaged background make things out of recycled wood.

A team of five from the group built the structure on Wednesday and it was opened to the public yesterday.

Oxford Mail:

Paul Jackson, new centre manager, said: “Summer has officially begun here at the centre.

"The beach is 8m x 4m and has taken six tonnes of sand to fill so it’s big enough for lots of the local community to come along and enjoy, all for free."

He added: “We understand that it’s difficult for families to entertain their children during the school holidays without spending lots of money.

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"We wanted to help and offer the community somewhere to come and enjoy a coffee while the kids get sandy.”

Open from 10am until 4pm each day children can take part in a range of activities, including a sandcastle competition.

Families are invited to come along and build a castle, post it on social media and tag the centre, to be in with a chance of winning £50 in vouchers for the centre. The winner will be announced on the centre’s Facebook page at the end of the summer holidays.