RAILWAY ROAD shopkeepers yesterday halted work resurfacing the closed highway outside their shops in protest at ‘lost trade’ because of the Cathedral Quarter works.
Hake Boat chippy boss Zeki Atas sat down in front of a road planer machine as fellow business owners joined him and waved placards on the pavement.
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Police were called and his landlord, Jaffar Jabbary, and neighbouring newsagent, Shabaz Zaffe,r escorted him from the sealed-off area.
The protesters claim sealing off the road for the second time in eight months, along with other disruptive work, has cost them thousands of pounds in passing trade.
Despite pedestrian access outside the shops remaining open, protestors claim an inability to cross the road and repeated disruption is forcing customers to go elsewhere.
But council bosses say as much access is being maintained as possible and the new town centre will benefit all traders in the long term. Contractors have also pledged to complete the work as quickly as possible.
Yesterday’s protest saw work delayed for 30 minutes as passers-by applauded the demonstrators who are demanding the council compensate them for loss of trade.
As Mr Atas sat in the road between placards saying ‘We need help’ and ‘Worst council in the world’, he shouted: “They don’t care about us. Where are the councillors?”
As part of the resurfacing, the council are removing the stone paving marking a temporary pedestrian crossing near Church Street which traders wanted made permanent to improve safety for shoppers crossing Railway Road.
Shop owners want financial help or business rate relief to compensate for what they say is repeated disruption to custom caused by road works, parking restrictions and two half-term closures, in October and this week.
They are also angry at delays in building the new bus station nearby, originally due to open in January and now scheduled by Christmas.
New borough regeneration boss Phil Riley promised to look into the issue but said the council had ensured access to the zebra crossing opposite Morrisons to minimise the detour for shoppers needing to cross Railway Road. Only Ginny’s Beauty Parlour has won rate relief after a long campaign.
Mr Atas said: “We need help. My business relies on passers by and no-one is going to walk as far as the zebra crossing or Morrisons car park lights and back for a bag of chips. We are struggling to keep going. The promised bus station has now been delayed three times.
“They could have used some of the money they spent paving that crossing and then ripping it up to help us. I am losing more than £50 a day and sometimes work for nothing because I only cover my outgoings.”
Mr Zaffer, of Railway Newsagents, said: “We have asked the council repeatedly to compensate us for loss of trade. I have a family to feed and not much money coming in. They wasted thousands that could have helped us on paving and then digging up the crossing.
Mr Jabbary said: “Zeki and the other businesses are struggling.”
Other traders supporting the protest included Keenan Dost from the barbers’ Yunus Patel from Remix, David Bramley from Ginny’s, and Rosea Anwar from The Treatment Centre.
Inspector Andy Winter said: “I am glad it was resolved amicably without the need for an arrest. We support peaceful protest.”
Cllr Riley added: “I will speak to officials. We have ensured that there is access to the zebra crossing opposite Morrisons. It is only a short detour for customers.”
Adrian Taylor, of contractors Eric Wright Civil Engineering, said: “Businesses and residents were informed of the closure and we received no feedback .”
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