SHOPS and businesses say council roadworks are having a terrible effect on trade, with sales down by as much as 50 per cent.

Workers in Earls Hall Parade, off Prince Avenue, Southend, claim they are losing passing trade and customers due to Cuckoo Corner roadworks.

Since the works started six weeks ago, their earnings are down by as much as 50 per cent, business owners claim.

They claim high metal fencing, traffic cones and council contractors parking in the parade is putting potential customers off and that many people think the shops are closed.

Dennis Lee, owner of the One Store newsagents, said he had lost nearly all of his passing trade.

He said: “Everybody is losing trade. I am roughly 40 per cent down on my normal takings.

“They put up all these metal barriers. If you look out, it is like being in a prison and it confuses people so much.

“In the morning, people usually come in, buy cigarettes, buy a paper and carry on to work. I have lost all of that now.”

Kevin Green, owner of the Cheque Station, said: “It has just annihilated trade. We are 50 per cent down.

“People coming past see the fencing and they think they will go somewhere easier.”

Lisa Beard, co-owner of Finishing Touches hair and beauty salon, said her trade had dropped by at least 30 per cent.

She added: “It has affected every business, because no one can really get in. It’s just a nightmare.

“The noise is ridiculous, bearing in mind I do massage here. You come in, want to relax and it is hard to, because of that.

“They told me they were going to lower the metal bars a week ago. They are just not doing that.”

The ongoing works are part of the council’s £5million Cuckoo Corner scheme, which aims to ease congestion at the bottleneck and widen the road to three lanes.

COUNCIL VOWS TO KEEP DISRUPTION TO A MINIMUM

SOUTHEND Council has said it will try to limit the problems at the parade of shops.

Leader Nigel Holdcroft said the council would speak to contractors carrying out the Cuckoo Corner works in a bid to minimise problems.

He added: “We are working as hard as we can to ensure disruption for these traders is kept to a minimum.

“There will be some disruption until the scheme is finished, but we are trying to keep that to a minimum.

“What we can ask is the contractors park as considerately as possible, as there is limited parking in that area.

“We are putting pressure on the contractors to create as little disruption as possible to traffic flow.”