THE £50m extension to Didcot’s Orchard Centre will not be ready in time for next Christmas, it has emerged.

In July proposals for the second phase of the shopping centre were approved by South Oxfordshire district councillors.

But construction work has not yet started and owners Hammerson said legal agreements with South Oxfordshire District Council were still being finalised.

SODC leader John Cotton had said earlier this year that the “target date” for new shops to open was Christmas 2016. But now he has accepted that his initial estimate was too optimistic.

Mr Cotton added: “My understanding from Hammerson is that phase two of the centre will not open next year.

“Christmas 2016 would be too early because the shops would have to be built and fitted out by September, and that is not going to happen as construction has not yet started on the site.

“I think construction work on the site could start soon – the sooner the new shops are open the better and it is still our plan that the whole area of Lower Broadway is redeveloped.”

The council leader said there was nothing to indicate discussions over legal agreements were causing a “particular delay”.

“I would expect the new shops to be open some time in 2017 – with an opening in spring or early summer,” he said.

Phase one of the centre was built in 2005.

Hammerson has planning permission to create the long-awaited second phase, bringing three new public spaces, 24 new shops including an M&S food store, and six restaurants, with 500 new jobs.

Tom Cochrane, asset manager at Hammerson, said: “We are currently finalising the necessary legal agreements with the council to be able to make a start on the expansion of the Orchard Centre.

“Once these have been completed we will be in a position to advertise when the construction work will begin, and when we hope the centre will open.”

Earlier this year, there were talks between SODC and the county council over a new access road for buses, as the existing service road will disappear under the phase two development.

Eventually it was agreed that buses taking shoppers from Didcot Parkway to the Orchard Centre would be allowed to use Station Road, despite opposition from some residents.