BUSINESS owners told how they have lost tens of thousands of pounds worth of trade as major roadworks make it difficult for drivers to get in and out of a busy retail park.

Highways officers banned vehicles from turning right onto Stadium Way, Rayleigh, for safety reasons earlier this month. Engineers began work in December upgrading the traffic lights at Rayleigh Weir.

Retailers have hit out at Essex County Council - claiming that they were not notified of the changes. They told how the roadworks have cost them thousands of pounds in lost revenue.

Bernard Litman, managing director of Tower Radio, which is based at the Stadium Way Retail Park, said: “It has cost us about £10,000 a week since the change was put in place a few weeks ago.

“Some time ago, I’m not sure when, they decided to shut the junction so you can’t turn right. You now have to go down to the Weir and come all the way around.

“It is cutting my trade by about 30 per cent because no one is coming into Stadium Way.

“I was told it was decided after an accident there and highways felt it was safer to stop people turning right.

“Customers just cannot get in and instead of waiting 30 or 40 minutes they are just driving off and going somewhere else.

“It would not have been so bad but they didn’t tell us when they were going doing it.”

The roadworks are expected to continue until the end of this month.

New traffic lights and a CCTV camera will allow Essex Traffic Control Centre to monitor and, in extreme circumstances, intervene when traffic at the junction becomes an issue.

Mark Donovan, managing director of furniture outlet Choices, said: “It’s been a lot quieter since it began. I think it was about three weeks ago.

“We’ve been really struggling and the council are not rushing to finish the work. We’re losing about 30 per cent trade week on week.

“All the retailers here must have lost thousands but the council don’t care.

“I know it’s supposed to be finished by the end of April but we’re coming up to a Bank Holiday which would be our busiest time so we would be hoping they’d be finishing it on the Friday night.”

Dennis Cox, managing director of Dansk, complained of a lack of communivation. He added: “It’s been diabolical and had a devastating impact on us. We had planned a big event and sent all the leaflets out but now we’ve had to cancel it, costing us £700 in printing alone, nevermind the lost trade.

“The most frustrating part of it is that we were not warned. It would have been nice to have at least been made aware that it was going to happen.

“I don’t think there’s any recompense to be had but I wouldn’t really know because I haven’t been able to speak to anyone.”

The roadworks are due to be finished by the end of this month but it is believed the council can apply for an extension if they are not completed on time.

Ray Howard, deputy county councillor for transport, said: “I’m very mindful of the affect that the roadworks have had and I’ve every sympathy for the retailers’ loss but the work has to be done.

“I’ve been making representations to make sure that the project is completed as quickly as possible.

“We were strongly advised by the safety audit to not allow a right turn after a bad accident happened there.

“I just want the work completed so that the junction can reopen and the community can get back to normal.”