THE owner of a guest house which lies on the route of a 2.2km pipeline linking two Oxford hospitals has said digging up the roads in the area will put off visitors and harm trade.

Paul Anderson, who runs Sandfield Guest House at London Road, Headington which lies on the route of the pipeline, said that the roadworks will deter visitors to the area and he raised further fears over access for disabled people.

He said: “It will certainly discourage people to come in to Headington.

“On a personal level I am more concerned for the aged and the disabled.

“From a business point of view most of my trade comes from the hospital and I think that trade won’t suffer necessarily.

“I think Headington, however, will during the roadworks be a less attractive place for people to stay.”

His comments come a week after multi-million pound plans by Vital Energi were given the go ahead by Oxford City Council to build a new pipeline between the John Radcliffe and Churchill Hospitals. It was approved despite concerns it would cause”significant disruption” to residents in the area.

A date is yet to be confirmed for the start of the project which will see roads dug up for 17 weeks throughout Headington.