THE first steel frames have been lowered into place for the £70m redevelopment of Bicester town centre.

The frame for the cinema and corner of Sainsbury’s supermarket have been built over the past few days. Over the next three months about 2,500 tonnes of steel will be erected at the site of the former Crown Walk and Bure Place car parks.

The project is a joint initiative by Sainsbury’s and Cherwell District Council to create a supermarket, cinema and new shops and restaurants.

Work started in January this year and by August residents will start to see the site take shape.

Once the steel frames are in place, the concrete terraces for the cinema will be built, the decked car parking installed and the new road from Manorsfield Road to the rear of Tesco and the Ex-Services’ Club constructed.

A webcam has gone live so people can watch the development’s progress.

Sainsbury’s project manager Paul Tyler said the steel framework was a major milestone in the building process.

Cherwell’s lead member for estates Norman Bolster said: “It is fantastic to see frames for the new buildings going up, giving a sense of how things will eventually look.”

To watch building work online see lobstervision.tv The login and password are both ‘bicester’.