SHOP owners on Didcot’s Broadway are relieved they can now stay put following the Orchard Centre’s latest expansion plans.

For years, independent businesses in lower Broadway feared their row of shops would be demolished in phase two of the development.

But the new plans for phase two of the centre, released by Hammerson in the past two weeks, have given them reprieve.

When phase two was first mooted in 2011, diagrams showed the development where firms in Lower Broadway are.

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Yet the development area is now smaller in new plans that will increase it from 200,000sqft to 350,000sqft to include shops and restaurants and cafes.

Colin Harrison, manager of Didcot Electrical Wholesalers, said: “We are pleased because this leaves us alone for the time being.

“And anything that makes Didcot more attractive as a shopping centre brings more people into town which is a good thing.

“Surrounding towns have had the view that Didcot is not a good place to shop but that is about to change.”

Didcot Chamber of Commerce president Di Chesterman said: “Those businesses have suffered some uncertainty over the last few years not knowing exactly what is going to happen.

“They are all small independent businesses that help bring character to Didcot. Without them we would be less of a town and it’s a relief they are going to stay.”

But Didcot Town Council’s Margaret Davies said: “After all the loud trumpeting over the Orchard Centre expansion we can now see the reality, that only part of the land previously identified is coming forward. The substandard buildings on Lower Broadway are not included, which is very disappointing. This is a pale shadow of previous plans.”

Hammerson, which owns the land, is preparing a planning application to South Oxfordshire District Council, which will have the final say.

Expansion will be to the east of the current centre, where there are now warehouses and businesses including those on Rich’s Sidings.

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