Jeweller hits out over roadworks
A Stafford jeweller says he has lost as much as 80 per cent of his trade due to the major roadworks on Bridge Street.
Eric Beckett says he only took a total of £40 throughout the whole of Saturday thanks to gas main replacement and resurfacing work on the town centre road.
Bridge Street has been closed off to through traffic and Mr Beckett, who also owns a jewellery store in Wolverhampton, believes he has lost a massive amount of passing trade from bus passengers.
The businessman also says the noise of the road drills and machinery is putting customers off and he is demanding that the work, which started last month and is set to carry on into the autumn, is proceeded with at a quicker pace. Mr Beckett is also waiting to hear whether Staffordshire County Council will be compensating retailers for trade lost during the work.
He said: "We're losing money left, right and centre. Nobody's coming in and my manageress has been asking everyone else in the street and they're all suffering."
Mr Beckett accepted that the work had to be done but questioned whether or not it could be done more quickly than the total of seven months it is scheduled for.
He said: "The workers finish at half past three every day and clear up. They dug a hole outside our shop and left it there for weeks – it's got to be done but can't they get more people onto it and do it any quicker?"
However, Staffordshire County Council spokesman Tom Hobbins claimed the Bridge Street scheme was "going well" and is currently ahead of schedule. "In the long term, it should encourage shoppers to that area of town," he said. "It is inevitable that there will be some disruption although every effort is being made to keep this to a minimum.
"Following consultation last year, a range of changes and adaptations were put in place which the vast majority of people were happy with."
Referring to a portable cabin at the meeting of Bridge Street and Greengate Street, which is set to act as an information point, he added: "A public information shop is also being opened on site to provide regular information and updates."
The work includes waterproofing to the deck of the bridge over the River Sow, along with new bus facilities, lighting and street furniture.
