Furious out-of-pocket Northampton businesses demand compensation after claiming they were not consulted about road closure

Furious business owners in Billing have hit out at Anglian Water, claiming that a “poorly signed” 17-day road closure has left them hundreds of pounds out of pocket.

The Causeway has reopened today (May 24) after being closed in both directions from Station Road to the BP garage from May 9, due to works being carried out by Anglian Water.

Anglian Water claims that a consultation took place prior to the road closure, however, small business owners in the area disagree.

Co-owner of The Buttery Tearoom, Polly Chadwick, told the Chronicle & Echo that the roadworks have put her business “on its knees.”

She said: “This has affected our business so dramatically, where I’ve had less than a third of that business in that amount of time, which - to a small business - can destroy us.”

She added: “Where the road signs were placed, people were turning around. We watched them do that, thinking the road wasn’t open.”

In conversations with Anglian Water, Polly said she was reassured that they would improve the visibility of their signage to inform motorists that businesses in the area were still open but, in Polly’s view, the damage had already been done.

The Buttery did not have a single customer yesterday (May 23) so Polly had to send all of her staff home early. Paying her staff’s wages will also leave her in deficit this month.

“We need answers. We need compensation,” Polly continued, “To put us at risk and for the council to agree to that as well with no consultation is disgusting.”

Owner of Rosie’s Dog Grooming, Emma Clark, claims that she has lost nearly £1,000 in trade as a result of the road closures.

Emma said: “We had no letter through the door, nothing, the first time I knew about it was when the signs were erected on the roundabout.”

Owner of Rl and Ro interiors, Ellie Dennis, said they were “ really disappointed” not to be notified of the closure.

Ellie stated: “We’ve obviously got the signs and billboards on the fence but no one’s going to be seeing, reading and then being able to pop in and see us.”

The works took place in order to connect the new Subway and Greggs retail units to the water main, according to Anglian Water.

When approached by this newspaper, the company conceded that the initial road management - a four-way traffic light system - was not the correct solution for the road system.

They said they worked with the local authority highway team to change it to a three-way traffic light system on April 28 to ensure full access was given to businesses.

A spokesperson for Anglian Water said: “All businesses were consulted at this stage through face to face ‘door knocking’ conversations and letters.

“Through consultation, we listened to the local businesses and following their concerns, we installed a series of large digital signs advising of diversions.

“The works concluded earlier than planned by four days as our teams worked longer hours and across weekends to minimise impact for the businesses. We thank the businesses for their patience and cooperation and apologise for any disruption during this time.”