Roadworks causing headache for traders (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Roadworks causing headache for traders

TRADERS in Fairford are feeling the pinch after putting up with roadworks on their doorstep for two months.

Thames Water is currently undertaking a 16-week project to fix the sewers in the west of the town, which has suffered from serious flooding in the past.

But the work involves digging up large parts of Horcott Road and a diversion has been in place since January.

The new route forces residents and workers to travel an extra eight miles around Fairford.

Thames Water says the work is on schedule and project manager Lawrence Adams has assured people in the town that the company will do all it can to minimise disruptions.

But several businesses in the narrow road are unhappy with the lengthy roadworks and there is talk of financial compensation.

Tim Bond, of Somerford Testing Ltd, said it was his employees who were hit hardest by the project.

"If compensation was a possibility that would help a bit," he said. "But it is a case of lost time as well.

"We are a small company but the main thing is the inconvenience - it's about eight miles a day extra per person that we are travelling which all mounts up in the end. The most important thing is the timescale. It's a hell of a long time."

Ewan Urquhart, part-owner of Oxford Medical Supplies, added: "The problem is the deliveries. There are people getting lost if they have not been here before. It's also nine miles for me to go and get a sandwich. It takes so long, plus the extra petrol."

Resident Greg Phillips, 68, appreciates the need for a new sewage system in the area but is also growing tired of the noise and nuisance. He said: "There's a huge amount of mess around my home and there's no room for cars to turn around."

Thames Water is now undertaking the building a new pumping station at Moor Farm and larger sewers leading to the site.

The new section of pipe underneath the riverbed has now been finished although the company said that proved to be a particularly challenging section of the project.

Thames Water spokesman Chris Shipman said: "We are on schedule to complete work in Horcott Road on time but the most difficult section is yet to come."

He explained that this was where several utility companies had wires and pipes situated together underneath the road.