With its collection of board games, puzzles and jigsaws, Hoyle’s in Oxford has kept residents and visitors of the city entertained for decades.

And, like many shops, the pre-Christmas months are particularly important for its bottom line.

‘November is twice as busy as a normal month, and December triple or quadruple for us,’ says Emily Scaysbrook, who set up the store with her father.

So, unsurprisingly, news that, from next month, the county council has decided to introduce a £5 congestion charge for drivers using key routes into the city has not gone down well with her or other business owners.

‘People aren’t going to want to risk a £70 fine and we are already seeing customers reaching out to us and saying, “I’m not going to come in to Oxford, I won’t risk it, I just won’t do it”,’ says Emily.

‘They feel that they are always just one wrong turn of the steering wheel away from a fine.’

She warns that the complexities of the scheme, such as giving residents a certain number of ‘free’ passes depending on where they live, are already putting customers off, and she fears businesses could close.

‘I think it is irresponsible and insulting that they are trying to now push this through when it is so obviously going to damage trade.’

It is estimated that charges and fines will see motorists hit in the pocket to the tune of £300,000 a month

Teachers, school run parents, doctors and nurses – even the local Labour MP – have voiced concerns over the congestion charge and protested the city’s LTNs

Yet, they aren’t the only ones up in arms. Teachers, school run parents, doctors and nurses – even the local Labour MP – have voiced concerns that the congestion charge has not been properly thought through and will add further complication and cost to those just trying to go about their everyday lives.

It is estimated that charges and fines will see motorists hit in the pocket to the tune of £300,000 a month.

Indeed, such is the strength of feeling that when Liberal Democrat-run Oxfordshire County Council launched a consultation into the scheme, three quarters of the respondents registered their opposition to it.

Yet still they ploughed on with it – announcing last week that it will be introduced at the end of October.

Opponents say that the charge, when combined with sky-high parking costs, pedestrianisation of streets, a zero emission zone and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs), the new charge represents another ‘nail in the coffin’ for one of Britain’s greatest, and most beautiful cities, the centuries-held academic reputation of which has recently come into question.

Last week Oxford University slipped out of the top three positions in prestigious university rankings for the first time ever, re-igniting concerns about social engineering in higher education. A relatively poor performance in its ‘student experience’ saw it come in fourth in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide.

There are mutterings of discontent, too, about the large number of coaches ferrying foreign tourists into the city, high prices, aggressive beggars – the council recorded 41 rough sleepers last November – and the ‘theme parkification’ of the centre, with increasing numbers of tacky souvenir shops selling Harry Potter memorabilia.

Sadly, no longer ‘the city of dreaming spires’ and intellectual discourse – but rather one of serious discontent.

A new group called Open Roads for Oxford, co-founded by Emily Scaysbrook, 37, is already fundraising with the aim of applying for an injunction to stop the scheme going ahead

And it was with the introduction of the LTNs that discontent originated.

As elsewhere in the country, their aim is to reduce car use and encourage walking or cycling by closing roads to traffic, thereby reducing pollution and improving health.

But critics say that the schemes just push traffic onto other streets. They have also seen motorists in Oxford hit with more than £1million in fines.

The issue of the effectiveness of LTNs has been a subject of bitter national debate, highlighted at the weekend when reports emerged that, in London, Sir Sadiq Khan’s officials had suppressed taxpayer-funded research that showed LTNs do not reduce car use.

In a separate blow, earlier this summer a High Court judge ruled that Lambeth Council had acted unlawfully when introducing a similar scheme in the well-heeled suburb of West Dulwich.

The Labour council was ordered to remove the scheme, pay the legal costs of residents who brought the case, and raised the prospect of £1million of refunds for motorists who had fallen foul of it.

Last week Oxford University slipped out of the top three positions in prestigious university rankings for the first time ever

Objectors had argued that Lambeth had conducted an ‘illegal and unfair’ consultation and then introduced the LTN despite two-thirds of residents telling them they opposed it.

All of which will sound very familiar to those protesting against the latest scheme in Oxford – which, unsurprisingly, is now set to face a legal challenge of its very own.

A new group called Open Roads for Oxford, co-founded by Emily Scaysbrook, 37, is already fundraising with the aim of applying for an injunction to stop the scheme going ahead. A judicial review is also planned.

In the meantime, the Oxfordshire City Council’s transport chief, Liberal Democrat councillor Andrew Gant, is facing particular criticism.

‘The Liberal Democrats’ four-year campaign against private car use has resulted in the steady decline in the economic buzz of our city,’ says Jeremy Mogford, the founder of the Browns restaurant chain and owner of the Old Bank Hotel and the Old Parsonage Hotel.

‘The real market for me and my businesses is the million people who live around the outside of Oxford, outside the ring road. But they say “we love what you do, it’s brilliant but we just don’t come in to Oxford as much as we used to or hardly at all”.’

The traffic measures have made Oxford seem ‘inaccessible’ and ‘not welcoming’, he says.

‘We as businesses have tried to engage with Andrew Gant but he is a zealot, a man with a mission who says everyone will thank him for what he has done to the city – but I’m not sure it will be the same city at the end of it.’

His criticism is echoed by Clinton Pugh, a restaurateur – and father of Oscar-nominated actress Florence Pugh – who has traded in Oxford for almost four decades.

In May he sold his last bar and restaurant, Kazbar on Cowley Road, claiming that since LTNs were introduced customers have been put off from visiting his venues, costing him up to £1million. It comes just months after he sold nearby Café Coco, where Florence used to work as a teenager.

Mr Pugh told the Daily Mail the latest scheme would be ‘disastrous for business’ and questioned Mr Gant’s credentials, pointing out his background as a professional musician.

Clinton Pugh, pictured, a restaurateur – and father of Oscar-nominated actress Florence Pugh – who has traded in Oxford for almost four decades, criticised the scheme

Florence Pugh pictured with her parents Deborah and Clinton

Mr Pugh told the Daily Mail the latest scheme would be ‘disastrous for business’ and questioned councillor Andrew Gant’s credentials

The councillor previously worked as an organist, choirmaster and composer for the late Queen at St James’s Palace.

‘The Lib Dems are the driving force and you have Andrew Gant, who is a choirmaster, singing and writing hymns who has never run a business while making comments about business thriving and tourism booming,’ said Mr Pugh. 

‘All I can say is that is nonsense. They put out a questionnaire for people to answer and 74 per cent said it is a bad idea, but they don’t listen. So much for democracy.’

The decision to introduce the congestion charge came as the council faced pressure to improve traffic flows, having committed to speeding up bus journeys in the city by the end of this year.

They had planned to achieve this using a system of ‘traffic filters’ on six key roads into Oxford city centre. Monitored by cameras, they are designed to catch and fine all cars travelling without a permit issued by the council.

But the filter scheme – which itself faces stiff opposition – had to be postponed due to major infrastructure works that have badly overrun, forcing the extended closure of a key route into the city.

Instead of simply waiting a year for those roadworks to be completed, the council came up with the idea of a temporary congestion charge.

Under the scheme drivers passing through checkpoints on the six routes leading into the city will be liable for a £5 daily fee. If they forget to pay, they will receive a £70 fine through their letter box.

All cars, including electric vehicles, will be liable for the charge. Buses, vans and motorbikes are automatically exempt.

But permits will be available for carers, traders, blue badge holders and those commuting to or living in a central area of the city.

Residents living in the immediate Oxford area will receive 100 day-passes, while those in the wider Oxfordshire area will receive 25 passes.

A six-week consultation took place on the proposals this summer, attracting more than 7,000 responses, many of them negative.

Hiten Patel, 50, who has run an award-winning newsagent on the High Street for 12 years

A hospital worker complained that he would have to pay the charge – or take a bus an hour each way. While a parent spoke of daily schools runs and having to ferry children around to sports events – ‘which won’t be possible with 25 permits’ – adding: ‘People’s lives are complicated – especially when you live a full family life.’

And a teacher wrote that they would be leaving their job next year due to the cost and hassle of getting to work. ‘Many others are saying the same. We are already struggling to recruit teachers,’ they wrote.

Despite the opposition, plans for the congestion charge have now been green-lit, much to the dismay of business owners across the city.

‘What sort of system is it that consults the people and then does the opposite?’ asks Hiten Patel, 50, who has run an award-winning newsagent on the High Street for 12 years. 

‘In the real world you cannot expect everyone to use the Park and Ride. If you’re a family of four going into the city to do your Christmas shopping, you’ve got a lot of bags and two kids. You need the car.’

Meanwhile Bakir Najar, who runs a dry cleaners near the Botanical Gardens in central Oxford, fears the charges will bring about the ‘destruction’ of small and medium-sized businesses like his.

‘Many of my older customers want to drive in with their clothes,’ he said. ‘But a lot of people round here have plenty of money and they want convenience so they will go to the big online businesses that can collect their clothes even if they charge double or more on what I charge.’

Bakir Najar, who runs a dry cleaners near the Botanical Gardens in central Oxford, fears the charges will bring about the ‘destruction’ of small businesses

Despite the vocal opposition, the county council is sticking to its plans – with councillor Mr Gant also hitting back at those who criticise his suitability for the job.

‘The only thing which qualifies someone for political office is the trust of the voters,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘I’m proud that this county council has made our streets safer for children getting to school, delivered cleaner air, better and cheaper buses, more choice, and much more. The Oxford temporary congestion charge continues that.’

He said that changes to the scheme had been made in response to input during the consultation process and that it would ‘bring benefits for businesses, reducing traffic across the city overall that makes daily movement slow and unreliable’.

He added that those exempt from the charge – such as trade vehicles, carers and blue badge holders – would see their lives ‘vastly improved’.

And Mr Gant also defended the impact of the various traffic schemes on Oxford as a whole.

‘In 2023 Oxford city bucked the national trend by surpassing pre-Covid visitor numbers,’ he said. ‘And this summer the city centre was revealed to have the third lowest vacancy rate of the UK’s major high streets. This is despite the LTNs having been in place since 2021 and Botley Road – a main arterial road – remaining closed.’

It is a point that doesn’t go unchallenged by businesses in the city who say that while the visitors may keep on coming, they aren’t necessarily the right sort of visitors.

‘We have now got coaches that come in the summer and disgorge tourists,’ says Mr Mogford comparing the situation with that in Venice.

‘They are here for two, three hours maybe and walk around in great swathes, even bringing in their own tour guides. A Martian looking at the city would think, crumbs, Oxford is absolutely rammed with people. But actually they are not doing the economy or business much good because they spend a minimal amount of money. They go to a plethora of souvenir shops that have sprung up in the space of genuine shops that have left, look at the listed buildings and where Harry Potter was filmed and then they are off. The narrative is footfall is up and that Oxford is thriving – but in fact that is complete nonsense.’

And with more changes to come, there’s clearly a few more bumps in the road to navigate before peace breaks out once again in the City of Dreaming Spires.