AN OXFORD art gallery is to close after its owner said she had lost her battle against the recession, high rents and a “disastrous” snowbound week before Christmas.

Danielle Fox, 39, is calling it a day after 10 years running Inspires art gallery in Little Clarendon Street.

She said: “We had been doing very well until two years ago, apart from a few blips. We had one blip after 9/11, but nothing like this recession.

“First we managed to make cutbacks, reducing our staff, and things improved, because we have very supportive customers.

“The last straw was the weather that week before Christmas, when we would normally build up a nest egg, taking £24,000.

“This year we took £2,000 that week and that was a big setback.”

The gallery is expected to close next week.

Ms Fox said Little Clarendon Street’s role as a “trendy shopping area” had been eroded by high rents and she said landlords had failed to recognise the depth of the recession.

She cited the closure of handicraft shop Tumi, which was replaced by Strada, as another example of independent shops’ struggle to survive.

Ms Fox added: “People walk along Little Clarendon Street and see the university offices and think it’s the end of the shops, so they turn around.

“It was very sad when Tumi closed and was replaced by another restaurant. Little independent businesses cannot sustain high rates and rents like this.”

Artist Valerie Petts, whose work was exhibited in the gallery, said: “I think it’s sad from a personal point of view that art galleries are disappearing from our high streets, because how are the public going to be exposed to fresh and lively art?

“But with the overheads and the other ways that people can buy art over the Internet, I can see that it is very difficult.”

The news came as the street closed for four weeks on Monday, to the concern of traders, for gas pipes to be replaced.