Cyclists and e-scooter riders racing through the new pedestrian zone, fireworks set off near shoppers and gridlock on the streets around: that is the picture of car-free Oxford Street painted by The Sun, a week after the Mayor of London closed it to traffic. Cllr Tim Barnes, Deputy Leader of Westminster City Council and one of the West End’s councillors, had warned that London was heading for “an unmanaged mess”.
Sadiq Khan closed the half-mile stretch between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street on 26 October. Buses, black cabs, private hire cars, cycles, e-scooters and pedicabs are all now banned from a street that welcomes around half a million visitors a day.
The Sun’s footage shows hire-bike riders swerving through crowds of shoppers and past the new bollards while security staff look on, masked riders on e-scooters weaving between queuing traffic, and fireworks going off nearby with no police in sight.
Meanwhile the traffic and buses diverted off Oxford Street have left nearby streets such as Wigmore Street, Henrietta Place and Cavendish Place at a standstill, just as the Christmas shopping season begins.
Cllr Barnes said: “London deserves a world class shopping district but I’m worried we’re heading for an unmanaged mess.”
He added: “It’s going to be very difficult for people with accessibility issues to get to the street. There is no step free access from Oxford Circus Tube.”
On the scheme’s first day, Cllr Barnes told Times Radio there was “no extra police uplift that we can see” on the street. Read what he said on Times Radio.
The £150m scheme is described as a first phase, with more than 50 trees, over 100 seats and two new public squares planned for 2027.
