Didcot's new Orchard Centre project, which is rapidly taking shape between the railway and the Broadway, is not without its critics.

Some claim the new road layout will starve in-town traders of customers, while other residents said the closure of Station Road has led to loss of their parking rights

Former town councillor Fred Excell claims many shoppers using Broadway will simply keep driving and head for the existing Tesco store on the eastern outskirts of the town rather head back around the new Hitchcock Way road scheme to its supermarket rival.

Mr Excell, 74, who served as an independent for more than 15 years, said: "Some of us want to keep shopping in Didcot town centre. We don't all want to go to Tesco's.

But David Robertson, the county council's executive member for roads and transport, said: "We want to encourage people to use the new facilities as well as the existing ones in the revitalised town centre."