A PETITION with more than 800 names urging councillors not to allow a former Woolworths to become a restaurant has been handed in.

Hundreds of traders and residents have put pen to paper since the petition started in Witney last month.

The Manny Davidson Trust has applied to West Oxfordshire District Council to change the permitted use of the 10,000sq ft shop into a restaurant.

But petition organiser Jan Bowes, of Cafe Bakehouse, said the trust had a fight on its hands.

Mrs Bowes and husband Larry said Witney needed something similar to Woolworths back in the town.

Mr Bowes said: “We feel we have 100 per cent support from the traders up and down the High Street and the residents of Witney.”

Lesley Semaine, landlady of the Royal Oak pub, in High Street, said: “People feel very strongly about the change of use.

“It’s got nothing to do with competition, it’s a case of saturation.

“People don’t want to come to Witney for a coffee, or a visit to the estate agents, they want to go shopping.”

Councillors will consider the change of use application tomorrow.

Three former Woolworth’s bosses say they want to take over 50 of the chain’s stores, including Witney, for a group of shops exploiting a gap left in the market.

But the Witney idea is dependent on them using the old Woolworth’s site.

witney@oxfordmail.co.uk