Oxford pub owner says Botley Road closure has cost him £750,000 in lost sales
The road has been shut since April 2023 as part of a project to upgrade Oxford Station
An Oxford pub owner says the three-and-a-half-year closure of Botley Road has cost his businesses around £750,000 in lost sales.
Tom Rainey, who owns The Porterhouse and The Punter pubs near Botley Road, says customer numbers have fallen dramatically during this time.
The reopening of the road has now been delayed until 20 September, after the previously date in August was pushed back.
But Mr Rainey says the latest delay is insignificant compared with the overall impact of the closure.
"It means nothing whatsoever to me... six weeks after three-and-a-half years of hell," he said.
He estimates customer numbers at The Porterhouse alone are down by at least 50 per cent.
A major factor in this, he says, is the lack of access to the pub for taxis.
"We used to have about 20 taxis a week turning up to The Porterhouse bringing somewhere between 50, 60 or 70 clientele a week," Mr Rainey said.
He added that the situation has actually become worse over time.
"It started off at the beginning okay, and then it's got steadily, steadily worse, because everyone in the main part of Oxford has given up coming to West Oxford," he said.
"They've forgotten it exists."
Mr Rainey says income from other areas has been crucial to keeping the pubs open.
"Without certain aspects of the business, for instance, we have seven hotel rooms, the business would probably be shut," he said.
He believes getting customers back after the road eventually reopens will be a major challenge.
Mr Rainey also questioned if legal action could eventually be considered over the losses suffered by businesses during the project.
"Whether after all of this, we still deliberate legal action against them for the loss of finance and the problems they've cause... who knows, but we shall see," he said.
Tim Walden, Network Rail Great Western Route's Capital Delivery Director, said: "We know the continued closure of Botley Road has had a significant impact on residents, businesses and everyone who relies on this route, and I'd like to apologise again for the additional disruption this has caused.
"While there is still important work to complete, we now have a clear target for reopening the road and our teams remain focused on delivering the remaining programme safely and reopening Botley Road as soon as possible."