Several prominent Oxford Street retailers have voiced angry concern after discovering shops must shut for almost a year due to the £16bn Crossrail development involving the construction of the new Tottenham Court Station. Essential preparatory plumbing and gas works need to be carried out between Tottenham Court Road and Newman Street. This section of the road will be closed to east-bound traffic during this period.

Transport for London claims that it was until recently unaware of the need for the essential work and it has been scheduled to avoid the key Christmas and New Year sales period to minimise the effect on local shops. The closure will take place to allow water and gas pipes and sewage drains under Oxford Street – some of which dates to the Georgian era – to be replaced or strengthened for the £16 billion project, TfL said.

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The £16 billion Crossrail scheme passes through Heathrow and central London's City and Canary Wharf districts, and ultimately connects Maidenhead in Berkshire with Shenfield in Essex. Trains will run in tunnels deep beneath London's premier shopping street.

Retailers fear that massive congestion in nearby roads, and the threat of reduced footfall, will affect business. In contrast, some locals have already expressed a preference for the peaceful new streetscape: one commented: “Oxford Street is a much nicer environment without traffic. Now if only they could make the closure permanent . . . .”