PLANS to transform a run-down car park in Didcot into a glass-fronted restaurant have prompted concerns over town centre parking.

Developers will begin work creating the two-storey eaterie on the land behind Wilkinsons on Monday.

However, traders and workers claim the site, which is used by about 20 motorists every day as an informal car park, provides vital free parking.

They said the move could force more people to park in already clogged-up residential streets, including Vicarage Road, St Andrew’s Road and St Peter’s Road.

Italian restaurant chain Prezzo aims to open for business on the site in June next year, creating up to 20 jobs.

Trader Chris Mitchell, owner of Heart to Heart and Thorntons in Orchard Centre, said: “It is only a marginal amount of spaces, but I’m not keen to see any parking spaces in the town go.”

Sian Curtis, 21, who parks her car in the spaces every day during work hours, said: “It will be a nightmare to park in the morning. Side streets will get clogged up with commuters leaving their vehicles for hours on end.”

Chamber of Commerce president Glyn Hall welcomed news of the restaurant, but added: “It will certainly have a negative affect on other roads in Didcot.”

A spokesman for architect firm CPLC Associates said the land was owned by developer Binden Estates. He said: “There is quite a lot of parking in the area so we are not worried about it.”

John Cotton, South Oxfordshire District Council’s cabinet member for Didcot, said: “I can understand the concern of those who use it for parking but there are spaces in the Orchard Centre and we have plans for a further increase in town centre parking.

“This is great news for Didcot.”