A FAMILY-RUN farm shop in Studley has hit out at Severn Trent, after they closed the road the shop is on for maintenance work.
Owner of Rough Hill Farm Shop, Ryan Durr said trade has been down 30 per cent since closing The Slough.
“Although the road is open to frontages and to our business, people see the road closed sign and don’t bother.
“It’s really knocked our earnings, our regular customers still know we’re open but passing trade is none existent.
“I think what Severn Trent don’t realise is this is a family business, it’s out livelihood.
“If people don’t shop with us we don’t earn anything.”
Ryan claimed Severn Trent didn’t forewarn him about the road closure.
“If we had known, then we would’ve been able to tell our customers.
“The only reason I found out is because I live round the corner from the shop and was told as a resident.
“It’s a frustrating position to be in, because the work needs to be done, but Severn Trent could’ve handled it better.”
The shop is being forced to reduce the cost of stock, just to get products off the shelves.
Ryan added: “We’ve had to change the way we work to make sure we’re bringing in takings.
“Hopefully this doesn’t last longer than it’s planned to.”
Shannon Currall, community communications officer at Severn Trent said: “We are currently upgrading the mains water supply for the area.
“Wherever possible we try to avoid road closures, as we understand just how disruptive they can be to local people and businesses. However due to the location of the work and to keep our teams and other road users safe, it has been necessary for us to request a road closure for these works.
“We are very sorry to hear that the owners of the farm shop feel that our works have negatively impacted their business and have taken a number of measures to mitigate any impact, including meeting with them prior to the start of work, creating and erecting bespoke signage indicating that the shop was open for business, and ensuring access to the farm shop has been maintained.”
