TRADERS on Bournemouth’s Westover Road are feeling the pinch, a year after its two cinemas were boarded up.

The traditionally upmarket road, often dubbed the town’s Bond Street, was left with two large empty premises when the Odeon and ABC were replaced by a new multiplex at the BH2 complex last February.

One business owner says the drop in footfall has been “disastrous” since the cinemas closed.

Developer Libra Homes has submitted two planning applications for homes and shops at the Odeon and one for the ABC, but all have been rejected by Bournemouth planners.

John Richards, owner of the Sony Centre on Westover Road, said: “We’ve certainly lost trade.

“When the cinemas were there, people going to the cinema would come here first to kill a bit of time and you’d end up converting them into a sale.

“There are two derelict sites up there. It’s not good for Westover Road. This part of town sometimes feels like it‘s been neglected.”

He said footfall had picked up when bus stops were moved there temporarily during roadworks at Gervis Place.

The owner of Altarima Gallery, who preferred not to be named, said the drop in visitors had been a “disaster”.

The owner, who moved into Westover Road after the cinemas closed, said: “I would say 50 per cent of the footfall has gone. We are struggling. I don’t know what kind of help we can get from the local authority to make the street again what it was.

“It was a disaster at Christmas time. I think it’s the worst Christmases a lot of the businesses here have ever had. I don’t know whether we’ll be here next Christmas unless something drastic happens.”

Chris Gallagher, manager, of luxury menswear shop Robert Old, said: “It hasn’t really affected us because the sort of clientele we get probably wouldn’t go to the cinemas anyway but we noticed the footfall has dropped a lot. It’s a shame.”

Many customers said the two cinema sites were an “eyesore”, he said.

“Westover Road has changed a lot over the years. Thirty to forty years ago, ladies would walk down wearing hats. It used to be regarded as the best street outside London,” he added.