Fed-up traders have said their business are being ruined by over-running construction work on a new housing development.
Sandra Hill, who has owned the Reading Newsagents on Waterloo Road, Epsom, for 43 years, said she and her fellow traders on the street are frustrated by ongoing construction work by developers McCarthy and Stone, taking place across the road.
The company started constructing retirement homes on the site last October, but the work is now overrunning, according to the traders, who said it should have been completed at the end of August.
They believe the disruption caused to passing trade may sound the death knell for their shops if it continues much longer.
Miss Hill said: "McCarthy and Stone think they own this part of the road.
"I would say I’m 15 per cent down on this time last year. I rely so much on passing trade.
"Some businesses have said if they don’t hurry up and finish this soon they can’t go on.
"All McCarthy and Stone say is ‘this work needs to be done’."
The 50-year-old said the disruption has included frequent closure of the road and the use of traffic cones to prevent cars from parking outside the shops which are not subsequently removed.
She said that although McCarthy and Stone sent a letter to residents when work started as to who they should contact with any problems, she has not approached the company with her grievances, although some of her fellow traders have.
Miss Hill said: "We just thought these guys know how to build properly. We didn’t think there would be all this inconvenience.
"A lot of the people who are due to move into the homes are being put in up Travelodges or being sent on holiday."
A spokesman for McCarthy and Stone said while a "nearby gas leak unrelarted to this project compounded some of the issues last week", all external groundwork is set to be completed by November 20, with homeowners moving in two days later.
She said: "It is regrettable some disruption has been caused during the construction of our new development on Wellington Court, however we have been careful to undertake the necessary measures to minimise the impact wherever possible.
"We appreciate some key aspects of the construction, such as the recent work undertaken to the pavement, will have caused disturbance to the operations of surrounding businesses and as such have maintained communication with our neighbours at all times, remaining receptive to any comments.
"Whilst we appreciate the frustration of those affected by the construction, we sincerely hope that the completion of this development will enhance the local area as well as generating new business for local shops and traders."
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