A THIRD of Broadway in Didcot could be transformed into homes under the district council’s vision for the town centre.

South Oxfordshire District Council says the area known as upper Broadway would probably become houses following the £150m expansion of the Orchard Centre.

The Broadway was the main shopping street in Didcot until the centre opened in 2005.

John Cotton, the council’s cabinet member for Didcot, stressed nothing was set in stone, but said the town’s main street would probably change.

He said: “If I was pushed to predict what will happen, it would look like a significant element of upper Broadway could become housing, that’s everything from Edinburgh Drive upwards in the direction of the Civic Hall.

“It’s difficult to say. There could be some amenities there too. Which bit will be shops and which bit houses I can’t tell you, that level of detail doesn’t exist.”

He said more details would be revealed in the Didcot Area Action Plan, a long-term plan for the town, which will be completed within a year.

Shops are still earmarked for lower and middle Broadway, alongside plans to expand the Orchard Centre.

Ken Jacks, of Broadway Butchers, said: “They’re trying to bring all that shopping down to that end.

“I would love to move down there but the cost of refitting a shop would be about £100,000 and at my age I don’t know if I would want to do that.”

But he added: “It’s a sensible idea to put all the shops together.”