Traders speak out against £6.3m Dudley road project that could force them to move

Plans have been unveiled to carry out road improvements along a section of Pensnett High Street, including the widening of the junction with High Oak and the demolition of a row of shops and homes to enable the changes to take place.

An extra lane will be added to the High Street to alleviate traffic problems.

However, the people affected said they had been left 'in limbo' by a lack of information from the council about what will happen to their properties and whether they will receive compensation.

Nick Austin, who runs Austin's Barber Shop in High Oak, said he would have to look for another premise for his business, but said if he could not find a place locally he would have to risk losing up to 50 per cent of his customers who were 'walk-in' trade and lived locally.

He said the other 50 per cent generally travelled by car and would not be affected by any move.

His business has been trading for six years and in that time has amassed hundreds of customers, though Mr Austin said there had been a suggestion he could receive up to five years profit in return for moving, which would soften the blow and would enable him to find another premises.

He said: "I am not overly happy about it, but there is not a lot I can do about it. I will just have to find another job."

A tenant in Pensnett High Street, who did not wish to be named, said her home would also make way for the widened road, adding: "I don't really want to have to move, but if they do go ahead with the scheme then I have not really got much option."

However, Denise Huxley, whose home is also set for demolition, described the plans as "absolutely wonderful" saying she wanted to move away from the home she had owned and lived in for 37 years because of the increasing levels of traffic and noise in the High Street.

She said the problems had mounted since the Merry Hill shopping centre opened in 1985 and the road was used by shoppers.

She added: "It is the best idea they have come up with and it was one that residents proposed about 20 years ago."

Traffic lights will also be introduced on junctions either side of the section, at both High Oak and Tansey Green Road.

The widening of the junction with High Oak will see the adjoining Bradley Street closed to through traffic.

The council will use a compulsory purchase order to buy land either side of the road to allow for it to be widened.

The work will take a year and could start as early as January 2017.

It comes on the back of a consultation in October last year which saw people back the scheme. Out of 239 responses last year, 138 'strongly supported' the idea of a dual carriageway on the High Street.