Dismay at return of Christchurch roadworks (From Bournemouth Echo)

Dismay at return of Christchurch roadworks

7:00pm Tuesday 2nd March 2010 in

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AFTER six weeks they thought it was all over.

But the relief for some traders in Castle Street in Christchurch was short-lived as work restarted to resurface part of the road originally dug up by Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) when it laid the replacement cables in February.

The work, which started again on Thursday, February 25, was redone at the instruction of Christchurch Council, which requested that the company redo the surface work to the required standard to prevent further repairs in the future.

Business owners have endured disruption since January 11 as Southern Gas Networks and Dorset County Council worked along Bridge Street and Castle Street.

A spokesperson for Scottish and Southern Energy said the work was due to be completed on Friday, February 26, but parts of the road were still being worked on on Monday, March 1, with workmen reinstating the lines and finally packing up and leaving on Tuesday, March 2.

Frances Brown from sandwich shop Ronny’s said: “I couldn’t believe they had come back. We thought the work was essentially over.

“It’s not that the road is closed. It’s that people see the work ongoing and don’t want to venture down here as they’ve seen the barriers along the street.

“If the job has not been done properly then they need to get it right but this is the third time and it shouldn’t have happened.

“At the start they said it would only take them three weeks but this is the sixth. Everyone is fed up of it.

“It would have been nice to be told about it. It’s gone beyond a joke.”

A spokesperson for Scottish and Southern said work had been delayed after workmen had been asked to move their vans following a complaint it was affecting businesses.