TRADERS in Oxford were counting the cost of a ‘super Saturday’ whiteout this weekend as snow kept many shoppers at home.

The Saturday before Christmas is traditionally one of the busiest days of the year for retailers, but shopkeepers described the day as ‘below average’.

Some shoppers did brave the wintry weather, and many were held up as the city’s roads and public transport networks were thrown into chaos.

In Thames Street, some motorists queued for more than 40 minutes to get either into or out of the Westgate car park, and others were caught out with shopping bags when bus services stopped early, forcing them to slip and slide their way home on foot.

Alice Taylor, of Nothing, in the Covered Market, said: “It was meant to be a good day, but it wasn’t.

“We have sold a lot of scarves and gloves but not a lot of jewellery.”

Geraint Jones, of Haymans Fisheries, said: “It’s supposed to be one of the busiest weekends of the year. We are nowhere near as busy as we should be. The turnout is like a normal Saturday, it should have been double that. But people were generally in a good mood.”

Ash Parton, of Run2, said: “It was like a below average Saturday and it’s supposed to be the busiest shopping day of the year. We still had people coming in but people were desperately buying anything so they could get home.”

Shopper Paula James, 47, of Cumnor, said: “It was fine when I came into town but now I don’t know how I’m going to get home. But it’s nice and quiet walking around the shops.

“I’ve managed to get a lot done.”

High Street trader Graham Jones, of business group Rox, was snowed in at his home in Wolvercote, but said traders had been hoping for a bumper day.

He added: “I imagine they were badly hit on Saturday because of the numbers going into Oxford would have been down.

“Our retailers have been hit by the recession, times are difficult and they have been hoping for a good run up to Christmas and this will set them back.

“I hope we get some better weather this week so people can come in and make up for Saturday.

“We won’t really know exactly what the impact will be until January 10 when we’ve got through the sales and people can take stock.

“Everyone loves the idea of a white Christmas, but retailers would like a good two or three days of clear weather to make up for this.”

eallen@oxfordmail.co.uk