Lake Fish Bar owner Nigel Brittain, whose business has suffered because of the roadworks. Picture by Peter Boam.
NEWS roadworks in Lake have been delayed by almost two months has sparked dismay among business owners, who say customers are 'avoiding the town like the plague’ because of traffic delays.
Since Southern Water contractors started work at the bottom of Newport Road in October, installing temporary traffic lights while they replace a water main, some businesses have reported a drop in takings by up to 50 per cent.
It had been hoped the 'essential improvements’ would be completed within nine weeks but, following a break over Christmas, the work resumed in January and will now be ongoing until March 1.
Blaming the delay on the difficult and busy location of the works, a Southern Water spokesman said: "We would like to assure customers we are doing all we can to ease the impact of this work and keep disruption to a minimum. We would like to thank residents and businesses for their patience and understanding while this essential work is being completed."
But patience and understanding are running low among business owners, who have called on Southern Water to hurry up and finish the work.
"My takings are down by around 20 per cent most days and sometimes by up to 50 per cent. It’s frustrating because there have been so many roadworks around here recently," said Nigel Brittain, who has run Lake Fish Bar for almost 12 years.
"People aren’t coming into town because they know they will get stuck in traffic. It’s had a huge impact on businesses here."
Lake News owner Malcolm Johnston agreed people were staying away.
"Passing trade is down considerably. People are avoiding the town like the plague at the moment," he said.
"The contractors should work in the evenings and weekends to hurry up and get the job done."
Gill Windram, part owner of the Opal Travel Group, added: "It’s unacceptable for the road to be closed for this long but what choice do we have except to put up with it?"
Reporter: emilyp@iwcpmail.co.uk