THE revamp of Oxford’s Westgate Centre could lead to more empty shops in the city centre, a traders’ leader has warned.

Fears have been raised about a ‘Westgate effect’, where national high-street chains take shops in the new £440m centre, but at the cost of more gaps appearing across Oxford.

According to the latest city council survey carried out in January, there were 20 vacant units in the city centre out of a total of 325 ground-floor shops, about six per cent of the total.

Last week the Oxford Mail found 19 empty shops when we conducted our own survey.

The former HMV store in Cornmarket Street has been empty since it closed on June 18 last year and the BHS store in Queen Street closed last month.

All the other main shopping streets in Oxford have empty shops including George Street, Broad Street and High Street, although the city council could not say if the percentage of vacant shops has gone up or down.

By 2017, the refurbishment of the Westgate Centre will add 100 new shops, a five-screen cinema and 25 cafes and restaurants to the site, with H&M and Schuh joining Superdry in the revamped shopping centre.

Graham Jones, a spokesman for traders’ group ROX (Rescue Oxford) – Backing Oxford Business – said he was concerned the new development could lure chains away from other areas.

He said: “There are hundreds of units across the city centre, so 20 units is just a small percentage, but it is concerning. We would not like to see the total number of empty units go any higher, because then you can get a slightly depressed street scene.

“At the moment the Cornmarket end of the Clarendon Centre is the centre of the shopping hub, but once the new Westgate Centre opens that will switch to the Bonn Square area.

“Big chains wanting to move into Oxford could delay because they are waiting to go into the Westgate, and there is also the potential for some chains to move out of places like Cornmarket Street into the Westgate Centre.

“The presence of Debenhams in Magdalen Street is very important.”

Mr Jones said the Westgate Oxford Alliance was as keen to sell the Oxford brand as it was to sell the new Westgate Centre.

City council leader Bob Price said he was not worried about businesses relocating from streets like Cornmarket to the new Westgate Centre.

Mr Price said he believes it could transform the area into a draw for vibrant new cafes and restaurants.

He added: “The worry in Oxford for many years has been that there is not enough retail space – that has pushed prices up and squeezed out small businesses.

“If gaps appear it will allow small businesses to come into vacated premises – it is an opportunity.

“At the moment it is mainly retail and we would like to see more variety.”

Paul Cooper, a spokesman for Green & Partners acting on behalf of one of two landlords for the former HMV premises, which is owned by Friends Life, said half the space was now being marketed.

And BHS has confirmed it wanted to relocate to the Westgate Centre.

Spokesman for BHS Clinton Manning said: “We understand there are new occupants for the site – a fashion store and a bank.

“The vast majority of staff have been redeployed or found other jobs.”

City council city centre manager Laurie Taylor said: “We would not like to see the vacancy rate go any higher.

“There will be small migration to the Westgate Centre but the units left behind will be filled up by other retailers.

“We do need to keep an eye on the number of vacant units but six per cent is low compared to the national rate (10 per cent), and about the same level as other Oxfordshire districts (the vacancy rate in South Oxfordshire is about five per cent).

“There will be some movement but the fact is we have more people wanting to come here than space.”

Ms Taylor would not provide a list of current vacant shops.

Sandie Griffith, secretary of the Covered Market Traders’ Association, said: “We would not like to see too many empty units in the city centre because that can put shoppers off.

“If the city centre looks healthy there is more chance of getting people into the Covered Market.”

Mum-of-two Jan Munday, from Bicester, said: “I am looking forward to the Westgate Centre revamp, but if some chains move out of Cornmarket that would be a shame.”

Leslie Oliver, 74, a former council buildings officer from West Hanney, near Wantage, visited BHS with wife Jean, 72, three days before it closed.

He said: “It’s a shame about BHS – it’s a big loss for the city.”

Westgate Oxford Alliance spokesman Sam Johnson said: “We are working with the city council, and city centre manager and are members of the town team, with the aim of working together to support retail across Oxford.

“We think a bigger and better Westgate Oxford will make the city centre as a whole a more attractive place to visit and consequently other retailers and businesses will also benefit from increased visitor numbers to Oxford.”