Fires brings Oxford Street to a halt

On Friday mornings, Oxford Street is usually gearing up for the weekend - one of the peak times for London's leading retail street.

But thanks to the fire which broke out at the New Look store on Thursday evening, this is anything but a normal day - and promises to be a bad weekend for some of the street's busiest retailers.

On Friday morning, the fire crews are still in attendance, ladders still propped against the facade of the Marks & Spencer store a few hundred yards from Oxford Circus Tube station. Police tape and barriers keep traffic and pedestrians from getting too near the building.

Thursday's fire happened at one of the street's busiest areas, filled with familiar high street names such as Zara, Borders, Muji and HMV.

Pedestrians traipse across the street, straining at the edge of the barriers to get a better view of the building. The crowds are certainly not what one would expect close to a Friday lunch hour - it's almost as if a World Cup football final involving England is on.

'Trading's been tough'

J Mullenders, the manager of jewellery store Swarovski, is one retailer counting the cost of a morning kept out of his store.

He was working there when the fire broke out. "At about 7.30 pm the police came and asked us to leave the store."

He says the fire is an added worry for Oxford Street retailers.

"Trading's been tough for everybody, but this is just one of those things. It's out of everybody's control," he says, pointing at the fire crews standing watch outside the building.

Cycle courier Justin Ledgister is another one feeling the effects. "I'm always up and down this road... it's affected me for some deliveries, because the businesses aren't open."

At least for a cycle courier, its easy to duck into the side streets. Road traffic has been diverted, buses are negotiating different routes, and tourists are puzzling their way through guide book maps hoping to find an alternate route to the sites.

Shift workers are, in some cases, finding themselves with a free afternoon off work.

Some visitors are nonplussed. Jeanette and Martin Hunter, down for the weekend from York, "wanted to look around the shops," says Jeanette. "We're not impressed so far," she says, gesturing at shuttered shopfronts.

Just off the street, near Portland Place, cafe owner Francesco Avazi is whistling to himself.

"Business was terrible last night. I would normally serve 70 tables - last night just 20. I hope it's better tonight."

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