Developers have cleared the final planning hurdle for the Limborough Road retail park in Wantage, more than 20 years after proposals were first drawn up.

The £20m shopping development on the site of the former tramway terminal will echo Victorian railway architecture. It will also feature a sculpture or wall feature of the former Wantage steam tram known as Jane.

The retail park will include a Sainsbury supermarket and petrol station, seven shops, six warehouses and yards for Jewson and Crystalox.

Members of the Vale of White Horse District Council's development control committee have approved the design. Formal approval is still being sought from English Heritage and The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.

Committee vice-chairman Richard Gibson said: "This is an excellent attempt to disguise a huge, ugly box. What better way to do it than a 19th century railway station?"

The district council has looked at 17 plans for the site over the years. Construction work has been delayed by planning problems and ground to a halt last year when the semi-derelict industrial estate was found to be contaminated with oil and diesel fuel.

Bill Atkinson, of Wantage-based consultancy Bushbuy, which is co-ordinating the scheme, said: "We're just delighted it's finally sorted out. We think it should be up and running by early 2004."