Traders concerned at the closure of a major artery leading to their businesses have written to their MP in a desperate bid to get the road closure options reconsidered.


Byfleet Road is set to close on Saturday, August 11, so a power cable can be installed to a care home being built at the junction with Redhill Road, Cobham.


The road is not scheduled to re-open until Saturday, August 24, and businesses on the Brooklands Industrial Estate were furious at the lack of consultation, having only found out via a resident in St George’s Hill that the full road closure was taking place.


After calling for measures to be put in place, such as one lane opening for traffic one way, to ease the burden on their deliveries and businesses, the council said it would introduce parking restrictions along the Queens Road, Weybridge, diversion route.


Micky Patel, site manager at Northamber on Brooklands Industrial Estate, said: “This whole thing is totally ill-conceived. To arbitrarily introduce restrictions in Queens Road is a knee jerk reaction and the businesses there will be even more affected because they are the little guys. It seems so immoral.”


He said businesses would suffer in Brooklands because nobody would endure the traffic chaos to get there, and would turn to online shopping or more local options instead.


Mr Patel said: “We’ve got major hitters here – Tesco, Marks and Spencer, Argos, it doesn’t get much bigger than this. Where was our notice? Where were our letters? It’s just extraordinary that we weren’t told.”


Works are due take place seven days a week, from 7am until 10pm, with a 9am start on Sunday, but the road will be closed for the entire duration.


Philip Hammond, MP for Runneymede and Weybridge said he believed everything possible had been done by Surrey County Council to mitigate traffic disruption.


He said a one-lane alternate traffic system in Byfleet Road would not be safe, but did not respond to businesses' suggestions that a one way system could be put in place for lorries coming off the A3 and M25.


In a letter to businesses, Mr Hammond said: “I do very much understand your frustration but, while SCC can influence the timings of works being carried out and can seek to ensure that certain conditions are complied with, it cannot ultimately prevent these works from taking place, nor impose conditions that would make them impossible to carry out.”