A PUB manager said she lost trade after a water company closed the road it was on without warning.
Tess Pritchard, manager of The Chase Inn between Malvern and Colwall, said Chase Road was open as usual when she arrived for work on Monday, June 29.
It wasn’t until a customer came in and asked about a road closure that she became aware it had been shut.
No warning
PUB: The Chase Inn is on Chase Road between Malvern and Colwall (Image: NQ)
“I got down here at about 11am and then one of my regulars popped in and said ‘why is the road shut?’,” she said.
“I went down and it was completely blocked but there were no workmen there.
“It was a bit of a nuisance. The bottom of Chase Road was shut without any warning to us.”
Miss Pritchard said workmen didn’t arrive to start work on the site until mid-afternoon, and that customers had been put off during lunchtime service.
“They didn’t start work until about 3pm so that affected my whole lunchtime trade,” she said.
“People could go up Jubilee Drive but [the road surface is] horrible. I couldn’t get deliveries because they can’t take lorries up there.”
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Why was the road closed?
The “emergency closure” had been put in place by Severn Trent to fix a leak.
Miss Pritchard said she requested ‘business open as usual signs’ from the water company but these didn’t arrive until Wednesday, July 1. The work was completed the next day.
“I understand there was a leak in the road and that needs fixing,” she said. “I just needed them to communicate with me and give me the proper signage.
FRUSTRATION: Tess Pritchard (right) said it took days for ‘business open as usual’ signs to appear. (Left: head chef Elise Perret.) (Image: NQ)
“I had people asking me if we were open but I couldn’t advertise it on Facebook or get it round via word of mouth ahead of time.
“It’s quite frustrating that it’s taken up so much of my time just to get signs up.
“I was unsure if it was going to be done by Friday so the weekend was a worry. It’s hard enough as it is running a small business.”
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Severn Trent’s response
Severn Trent has apologised and said fixing the leak was more complex that it had anticipated.
A spokesperson said: “We’re sorry for the disruption caused on Chase Road last week, as our teams had to carry out emergency repairs to a leaking pipe.
“The fix was unfortunately more complex than we had anticipated which caused delays and the road was back to normal by Thursday last week.”