Traders claim a road narrowing scheme in Oxford's Cowley Road is putting people at risk.

traffic calming between Tesco and The Bullingdon pub, part of a £1.6m scheme to improve safety, has been branded dangerous by shop owners, who are also worried about its impact on trade.

As reported in the Oxford Mail last month, businesses were upset because they felt that they had not been consulted about the works.

Stephen Cooper, 46, owner of Honest Stationery, said: "I'm a cyclist and I think the road-narrowing is dangerous.

"I don't think you'll get two lines of traffic as well as bicycles through there when it's complete."

Nasser Salehi, 53, owner of bicycle shop Cycloanalysts, said: "I'm down £15,000 on this time last year.

"It's a vibrant road and a fabulous place, but Romans made the roads straight for a reason."

Ghulam Yasim, 51, manager of MCM Computer Systems, said: "We're losing a lot of business -- down 50 per cent since the works started.

"We're getting no business so what is the point of making the road better if there are no customers?"

"I'm thinking of putting a petition together to try and make the works speed up."

Chicane-like paving has been built along the road as part of the scheme.

The work started in early April this year and is scheduled to finish in November.

An Oxfordshire County Council spokesman said: "The road has been narrowed in places to make the vehicles slow down and to stop parking in places where it is dangerous.

"The road will still be wide enough for two buses to pass each other safely and the overall design when finished with tree-planting and the 20mph zone should mean that we have a safer road, with drivers giving more consideration for cyclists and pedestrians.

"When complete we will have a very close scrutiny on the scheme to make sure we achieve our aims."