AN Oxford fast food restaurant is set to reopen - more than four months after it was forced to close due to flooding.

The cellar at McDonald's in Botley Road was completely submerged in water, and the restaurant filled with 2ft of potentially contaminated flood water.

Carl Room, who had only taken over the franchise six weeks prior to the flooding in July, said the restaurant was set to open its doors on December 1 - more than a month later than he had previously hoped.

He said: "We had to rip out the whole of the dining area.

"It is a traditional building with old Cotswold stone, which has taken a very long time to dry out before we could even start refurb- ishing."

The rebuilding operation is set to cost up to £300,000, which will be covered by the company's insurers.

Mr Room said: "It's just one of those things. I don't think anyone would have predicted the water rising to that level. The warnings kept on changing so we didn't know when the river was going to burst.

"There was quite a lot of uncertainty.

"But there is very little we can do to prevent it in the future.

"All we can do is keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't happen again."

Mr Room said he had spoken to people living in properties in Botley neighbouring the restaurant which were also flooded - and said he believed they had been in a worse situation.

He said: "I feel more sorry for them because it was their personal possessions that got damaged, whereas this is just a business."

Mr Room said all staff had been offered positions in other McDonald's stores.

But he said some had chosen not to take them, and he had lost about 20 employees.