Road closure cost business 'thousands of pounds'

The road was closed on the first day of the school holidays

A woman says the closure of the road to her campsite on the first day of the school holidays has cost her "thousands of pounds".

Work to repair a culvert running under the road to Doxford Farm Camping near Chathill, Northumberland, began on 22 July, and meant access to the site was only possible via a long diversion from the A1.

Owner Katryna Shell said: "The closure has been a logistical nightmare at the very worst time of the year, with no offer of compensation."

Northumberland County Council said it was an emergency closure because of "a significant safety risk to road users".

The repairs to the culvert were supposed to take six weeks, but overran by four weeks

Mrs Shell claims to have been given only a few days notice of the closure, which was due to last six weeks but extended into October.

"This meant that I was short of time to try and organise emails and calls to hundreds of summer guests prior to arrival," she said.

"I have spent hundreds of hours answering calls, meeting people personally in my car and answering emails from confused and lost guests."

Mrs Shell also pointed out the diversion was via a road off the A1 which meant walkers and cyclists could not access the site, resulting in cancellations and loss of trade.

July and August are the busiest time for the site

As well as being a campsite, it is also a working farm with land either side of the road closure.

"My husband and father-in-law have had to make a five-mile detour, sometimes several times a day, to check on animals, but the county council has offered us no compensation, either for that or the impact on our campsite," Mrs Shell said.

"What was hardest of all was the lack of communication from the council, after a while they just stopped replying to my emails.

"It's all been incredibly frustrating and has made for a really tough summer.

"I just don't think local authorities should be able to behave like this."

The farm straddles the road closure, necessitating a long detour

In a statement Northumberland County Council said: "Whenever we carry out essential repairs we try to minimise impacts on businesses, however on this case we appreciate it has caused problems for the business owner at a busy time of year.

"The culvert was deteriorating rapidly and work to repair it had to be brought forward.

"We have had been in regular email correspondence with this business and while we do sympathise, we do not pay compensation for loss of trade due to essential highways maintenance works."