Businesses bemoan road closure disruption

Businesses have vented their frustration over delays to reopen a road in Essex.

Cadent finished work on a gas main in Witham on Sunday but kept Guithavon Street closed after engineers found a collapsed drain.

The road was eventually reopened on Thursday evening.

Hairdresser Caroline Rose said: "It's chaos, because you've got all the traffic going up the main High Street. We haven't got enough roads in Witham as it is, so therefore clients are late."

Her salon, just yards from where the street was closed off, said the business had not been told the work would take longer.

Robyn Holmes, managing director of a recruitment agency, was another who said she was not told about the extension to the work, which she described as a "nightmare".

She added: "The whole of Witham seems to be gridlocked."

Meral Solak, a restaurant chef, said the work affected the school run and her commute to work.

"Witham is a small town and when the road is closed, [it is] blocking everywhere," she said.

Amber Greensmith, of Cadent, said: "During the course of the work, our engineers noticed that a drain had failed and was a potential risk to road users.

"We contacted the council to report this and agreed that we would leave the closure in place for safety reasons.

Before Cadent removed the closure, an Essex Highways spokesperson said it would looks at repairing the issue and reopening the road "as soon as possible" safe to use.

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