COWLEY Road will soon be home to another empty shop with the closure after 25 years of a landmark independent business.

Erica Steinhauer, who runs Bead Games, is retiring, and said she cannot find anyone to take over the space.

Ms Steinhauer has long campaigned for traders in the road but last night she said: “I decided I wanted to retire to spend more time working on a book and gardening. So I planned to sell the shop by the time the lease is up in March.”

Ms Steinhauer advertised the shop earlier this year, but said the rent, which she declined to reveal, was putting people off.

The business was set up in 1986, with Ms Steinhauer designing beaded jewellery and fashion accessories to sell to Boots, Harrods and Paperchase.

And in 2007, she opened Sweet Haven, a traditional sweet shop inside Bead Games.

Ms Steinhauer said: “In all honesty, I was ready to do a few more years.

“We’ve had a lot of shops closing on the Cowley Road recently.

“Its identity was lost years ago.

“We have all been pushed out – all the retail shops at the bottom end of the road.”

Ms Steinhauer said city council policy and greedy landlords had driven independent retailers out of Cowley Road. She said: “Rent and rates have gone up, making it difficult for people to make a living.

“It is simply not feasible for small shops any more.

“I have had a lot of interest from people about buying the shop as a going concern, but when they look at the overheads they realise they cannot do the sort of business needed.”

City council spokesman Louisa Dean said Bead Games was not a council-owned property but added: “Vacant properties are usually let through a competitive process with the market then determining the levels of rent.”

The shop will feature in the next series of detective drama Lewis, with Inspector Morse author Colin Dexter in a cameo role.