'Road closure will lead to job losses at hotel'

The closure of the A449 between Little Malvern and British Camp car park, will affect access to the Malvern Hills Hotel

The owner of a Worcestershire hotel said a closure of part of the A449 due to "essential" works will lead to job losses.

Worcestershire County Council is set to close the road between the A4104 and British Camp car park from 1 September until 24 April 2026.

Malvern Hills Hotel said the closure is a "Covid-19 level event" for them, raising concerns about the loss of passing trade.

But the council said it has written directly to businesses affected most by the closure and it could not offer compensation for the works taking place.

Little Malvern and Welland Parish Council said the works are to demolish and rebuild a collapsed retaining wall.

The Malvern Hill's owner, Matthew Cooke, said the last time the road was shut, their takings were down 50%.

He said: "We get a lot of passing trade and people will just stop coming up. There are other places they can go to and you can't expect people to travel an extra half an hour.

"It's horrific. It's people's jobs. We were offered no consultation and there has been no reference to any other options. There is nothing I can do about it."

The road between the A4104 and British Camp car park is set to be closed from 1 September until 24 April 2026.

The hotel and car park are popular starting points for walks on the Malvern Hills, particularly Herefordshire Beacon with its Iron Age hill fort.

"Eight months is a long time," said Mr Cooke. "And it's already gone up from five months – I feel like the goalposts keep moving.

"This is a Covid-19 level event for us, and we will have staff being made redundant.

"I have 32 members of staff to look after – they are relying on me to pay their wages, but I can only do that if we're getting money from trade."

Knock-on effect

A petition calling for highways bosses to rethink the closure and come up with a "more considerate plan" has more than 900 signatures.

Andrew Collier, who started the petition on Change.org, runs Daniels Petroleum, a petrol station, garage and car dealership on the A449 Wells Road.

He said: "This is going to have an effect on fuel sales and there will be a knock-on effect on the shop."

Mr Collier added he only found out about the works after looking at the council's website.

"I haven't got a clue what's happening about compensation or whether there is going to be any.

"My biggest problem with it all is the lack of consultation, the lack of warning," he said.

Andrew Collier said he had not received any contact from the council over the works

Councillor Malcolm Victory said the closure will dramatically affect residents where the diversions will run.

He said: "I have had lengthy correspondence with county Highways to see if the process could be accelerated, or allow one-way traffic, or open for the Christmas period, but they argue that any of these would both cost much more and also extend the period of the closure."

Victory said he has been told the reason for the lengthy closure is due to repair being "extremely difficult".

Worcestershire County Council said as the works are essential to the highway, there is no legal requirement to carry out a formal wider consultation beforehand.

A statement said: "We have written directly to the businesses most affected by the closure, and residents living within the closure area will also receive letters with further details.

"We do understand that these essential works may cause inconvenience, and are sorry for any disruption this brings."