Farnham traders' relief as main road reopens

West Street in Farnham has been closed for four months

Business owners in a Surrey town have spoken of their relief as one of its main roads reopened after a four-month closure.

West Street in Farnham was shut in January as South East Water installed a £1.3m water main.

Work had been due to end in April but overran for a month because of what the company said were engineering problems.

Traders have reported a sharp drop in footfall, and are now encouraging shoppers to return to the town.

Sylvia Schuller, who runs Blue Bear Bookshop, said she had to cancel five events with authors because of the closure.

"There's just not been a possibility for people to get to town" she said.

"We work to secure an author for an event - that takes time. And it doesn't make us look very good."

"Found different places"

Tracey Corney, president of the Farnham Chamber of Commerce, said while people were feeling more positive now the road had reopened, she was concerned some shoppers may not return.

She said: "People will have got out of the habit of going to Farnham. They'll have found different places to go.

"A great shout out to everyone who has been making the effort to go in, because it has meant a lot to those businesses."

South East Water said the month-long delay was due to engineers discovering existing utilities that were not on plans.

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