A SHOP owner is considering legal action after railway work which has cost her business £250 a day were further delayed.

Work on First Turn Bridge in Wolvercote was supposed to be completed at the end of the month, but Network Rail has announced it will now stay shut until February.

First Turn Stores owner Annie Kotak said the road closure – which means the shop can no longer be accessed from Woodstock Road, forcing customers to use Wolvercote Roundabout – is costing her hundreds of pounds each day.

She said: “It has hit us hard. We have lost our customers from the Woodstock Road and those who used to come from the village on foot are reluctant to use the footbridge in the dark.

“We are losing about £200 to £250 a day compared to what we normally make. We want compensation – but we were told Network Rail don’t do compensation and weren’t about to start now. We are going to be seeking legal advice.”

The demolition and reconstruction of the bridge has been finished but it will not be reopened until February.

The final three months’ work will involve reconnecting utility services like gas and water.

Retired mathematician Keith Dancey, who lives in St Peter’s Road adjacent to First Turn, said: “It’s incredibly disappointing and frustrating. It is simply not a year’s work.

“Weeks have passed without any work being done and even then it’s small teams.

“A local business is on its knees and they couldn’t care less.”

Wolvercote resident Linda Proud Smith said concerns that the bridge’s closure would cause disruption and delays to commuters were allayed once the work began earlier this year.

She said: “Obviously it would have been lovely if it were finished this month, but the disruption has not been as bad as I thought it would be.

“But I can’t really see how it’s going to take three months to finish. The bridge all seems to be finished and in place.”

Network Rail spokeswoman Victoria Bradley said: “As a publicly funded organisation, we do not routinely pay compensation and would only consider it in cases where a direct loss or injury could be proved as a result of our activities.”

She said the delays were down to problems gaining planning consent earlier this year, which meant the start date had been pushed back.