The roadworks are expected to be in place for eight months
The roadworks are expected to be in place for eight months
Businesses “fear” they could lose over £1m as roadworks outside their doors are reportedly keeping customers away. Earlier this week the owner of BP on Priory Road, Siphlan Krishanand, 55, told the ECHO how he “doesn’t know” how he’s going to survive after Liverpool Council erected roadworks outside of his branch leaving him with next to no customers.
The roadworks, which have been put in place by Dowhigh as part of the Liverpool Council’s highways and improvement programme, will partially close Priory Road for eight months. However, the roadworks have left some business owners fearful for their livelihoods as they claim it’s stopping customers from getting to them.
Stephen Henderson, 61, from Norris Green, owner of Priory Road Tyre Services, and Tony Freeman, 51, from Burscough, owner of Anfield MOT, have told the ECHO they could potentially lose £500,000 each if their businesses were to liquidate due to lack of income. Stephen said: “Nearly half a million pounds each we will lose. We can’t sell the business if it goes bust and the wages you will lose if you aren’t making money, we will lose thousands.”
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Tony added: “And if we did have to close I can’t pick my business up and move it elsewhere either, I’m licensed to be on this site. I would have to start all over again. We both have families we have to provide for, it’s scary, it’s very scary, we are frightened.”
Stephen claims they weren’t made aware of the roadworks in time to tell customers, they say if they had been told in advance they could have advertised that they would still be open. He said: “We haven’t had any word from the council about compensation and we were promised electronic signs to help us advertise the fact we are still open.”
A spokesperson for Liverpool Council has shared images of signage which has now been put in place, they read: “Businesses open as usual” next to the roadworks on Priory Road. The council said: “As well as the signage Highways Officers and the contractor have all engaged with the businesses via site visits, letter drops and post, and we’ve flagged the roadworks on social media.”
Stephen has added: “45 years I have been here and Tony has been here for 15 years, we could both lose a lot of money. There are ten employees across the site that could also lose their jobs if we did have to shut because of loss of money.
“We fear we will lose customers over this that have been coming for years. Once they go somewhere else they won’t come back.”
The roadworks on Priory Road started on October 21 between the junctions of Utting Avenue and Walton Lane and will remain in place for approximately eight months, until the end of June 2025, while a new drainage system, new pedestrian crossing near the crematorium, new footways and carriageway reconstructions are put in place
A spokesperson for Liverpool Council said: “The Council and the scheme’s contractor have been working tirelessly to ensure access and communication to the business(es) to alleviate any issues they may have.
“The aim is to deliver the Priory Road scheme as quickly, safely and efficiently as possible for all parties, with as little disruption as possible. However some disruption is inevitable and we are attempting to mitigate that as much as possible through a number of measures.”
They added: “It’s also important to note that to date, none of the businesses have contacted the City Council directly with any concerns they may have about the works.”