August 24, 2011 1.38 pm This story is over 159 months old

City shop struggles due to road closure

Road closed: The Brayford Wharf Spar in Lincoln says it is suffering a serious decrease in footfall due to the planned road closure.

Brayford Wharf Spar in Lincoln says it is suffering a serious decrease in footfall due to the planned road closure of Brayford Wharf East.

The road is closed for 10 weeks until the last week of September in order to put in place a new pedestrian crossing connecting the new Business and Law university building to the rest of the University of Lincoln campus.

Despite the closure, the Spar convenience store remains open for business but says it has suffered a substantial loss in trade.

Store Manager, Sarah Bennett (22), estimates that the shop experienced a loss in footfall of over 200 customers per week.

Bennett said: “With the pavement closed and people re-directed away from the shop’s entrance, they either think we are closed or totally miss us.”

There were further complications for the store manager when she had to get the situation assessed by health and safety to ensure it was safe to receive deliveries.

“The delivery vehicles have to park down the road from the shop and wheel things along on their trollies which makes the whole process a lot harder,” she added.

Bennett was forced to contact City of Lincoln Council about the loss of trade, who were offered assistance by putting up a “business unaffected during works” sign.