Kinross businesses say they face losing half their customers and could shut their doors due to the impact of controversial town centre regeneration work.
One million pounds is being spent to rejuvenate the heart of Kinross in a bid to breathe new life into the “failing town”.
However, the ongoing work to improve the appearance of the High Street is hitting takings and affecting footfall at struggling businesses.
And news that the High Street will close to traffic on Wednesday, from Mill Street to Montgomery Street, until late September at the earliest is set to pile further misery on to under-pressure owners.
Pamela Hunter, of award-winning butchers Hunters of Kinross, said: “What we will find is that we are going to start losing money as a business. It will be into three-figure sums.
“We have over 1,000 customers a week coming into our shop. We will be lucky if we get even half that.
“There are still businesses here but people won’t be able to get to them.
“Where are all the workers? They started this huge job and I don’t think we’ve ever seen any more than five men working at any one time on the site.
“There are not enough men on the job. The work could have been cut in half if there had been enough bodies in place to do the job.”
Mandy Shepherd, who owns Mandy’s Hairdressers, fears she may have to close her doors due to the impact of the road closures.
She said: “Outside of me is going to be shut for 12 weeks all the way down to Montgomery Street. I’ve got senior citizens that can’t walk. Where are they going to get dropped off?
“I’m going to lose about 50% of my trade if I lose my senior citizens. It’s going to have a huge impact on me.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to continue the way it’s going. Some afternoons I could just shut up shop and go home as there is absolutely nobody going about.”
Shopkeeper Barbara Willey added: “We’ve already had nine months of Town Hall redevelopment so we’re going to have 14 months of continuous disruption.”
The improvement plan was unanimously backed by councillors in January in the belief that it will bring economic benefit and return vibrancy to the town.
However, around 80 people, including town traders, submitted objections, claiming the plans were not right for the town and could have a detrimental impact on residents, businesses and safety.
Kinross-shire councillor Joe Giacopazzi said: “I am hearing complaints that not only are the workers seemingly few in numbers, but that they are sometimes not there.
“I have contacted the deputy director, the environment service, who will report back to me on the progress of the works.”
A Perth and Kinross Council spokesman said: “We are undertaking essential environmental improvement works on Kinross High Street to support Kinross’s vibrant town centre and to encourage further private investment in the area.
“As with all works of this nature, it is inevitable that there will be some disruption throughout the upgrade and we apologise for the inconvenience that this causes in the short term.”