Crosshead

ROADWORKS could make it a miserable Christmas for two Golborne businesses.

The festive season should be the busiest time of the year for chip shop owner Jeff Foster of Lowton Road Chippy.

But he says roadworks by North West Water which have led to part of the road being closed have slashed his takings to such an extent he has had to lay-off staff.

And he reckons it has cost him hundreds of pounds in lost customers.

At the Horns Inn Pub next door, landlord Paul Farrimond and wife Susan also fear Christmas will go with a whimper rather than a bang this year because of lost trade through sewer reconstruction work taking place on Lowton Road between Langley Close and Heywood Avenue.

The road is set to stay shut for four weeks.

To add insult to injury Jeff says he was given no notification of the road closure - only finding out what was happening when a customer filled him in.

"I think it's terrible," said Jeff. "Takings are well down. We are losing £500 a week, that's a large percentage of what we were making before roadworks started.

"Most of our trade came from people who were passing by - but the road closure has stopped all that.

"Now should be our busiest time. Christmas shoppers would often come in here and buy their tea because after a hard day's shopping they don't want to go home and have to cook. But we've lost that."

He added: "Between 11.30 am and 11.50 am on Monday we had two customers, when usually we have about 30. That's a big drop."

Mr Foster says he has to dip into the little money he has saved up to tide him over, adding: "I've got a mortgage to pay."

He claims "misleading" signs are causing potential customers to think the road is inaccessible but it is only closed off at one point.

The chip-shop owner said: "Because I didn't know what would be happening I had ordered extra stock in but I have had to throw most of it out.

"I think the signs up now are quite misleading. It just says the road is closed but there is access past my chippy. It would be so much better if the signs could make it clear that we are open for business.

"It's unprintable what I think about it all. I'm totally disgusted."

Landlord Paul Farrimond and wife Susan, who have been running the Horns Inn Pub on Lowton Road for the past year, have also noticed a drop in business since the road closure.

"Usually it's buzzing in here on a Saturday night," said Mrs Farrimond," but the other Saturday even though we had a live artist on, the pub was dead - we only had about 20 people. It was unbelievable - usually we have between 60 and 70 people in. It's usually full.

"We are still getting our regulars in but quite a bit of our trade comes from people passing by and now that has stopped. We might get the odd car passing by but that's all.

"I do blame the signage - it doesn't make it clear that we are still open and cars can get to us."

Mr Farrimond said they had spent the past 12 months building up the business and is afraid his hard work could be undone.

He said: "Since we got here we've worked very hard to turn the pub around. We've introduced artists, live music, food and I've even built a beer garden. It's been very hard work.

"And now we are losing trade and there's nothing we can do about it.

"Last week I spent two hours trying to find out who I can claim compensation off and it was like dealing with the secret service. I couldn't find out who was responsible."

A Wigan Council spokesman said the businesses may be able to claim compensation for loss of earnings and added the council wanted to ease the situation for them as much as possible.

The spokesman said: "They can make a claim for compensation providing they can prove they have suffered financial loss due to the roadworks. They must write a letter to the director of engineering at the council who will then pass them on to North West Water.

"As far as the signage goes it is always very difficult to get it right. We believe that the signage is adequate and informative. If the businesses feel it is not right they should let us know and we will see what we can do for them. We do want to make it easier for them.

"The road closure was advertised in the local press and there was a letter drop to businesses in the vicinity. The two businesses are a bit further up from where the roadworks are and it is difficult to know where to draw the line as to who will be affected.

"We do welcome any suggestions that they might have and we'll do what we can."

And he warned there were other sewer works planned in the area between January and May but added the council did not expect to have to close the road again.