Traders suffering after fire in Northampton town centre

Zeeshan Manzoor, owner of The Ladz on Bridge Street, says he has had no help from the authorities

Traders in Northampton say their businesses are suffering because part of their road is still closed following a blaze last month.

Nine fire crews tackled the flames at the old Angel Hotel and Balloon Bar building on Bridge Street on 22 August.

It is one of the busiest areas of town during the evening with many nightclubs and restaurants.

West Northamptonshire Council said safety concerns meant it did not know when the road would reopen.

Zeeshan Manzoor opened the Northampton branch of a chain of The Ladz restaurants three months ago.

He said the business had been doing very well until the fire, but customers were now unwilling to book as they could not park close by, and take-away delivery drivers were having problems getting access.

He said: "If drivers receive the order and they can find a place [to park], they come, otherwise they cancel the order.

"Some of our customers have never tried us before, and they've had a very bad experience because they've ordered the food, they're waiting for the food, but they're not getting the food."

Mr Manzoor said he had contacted the council but they had not offered any help and could not tell him when the road would reopen.

A section of Bridge Street has now been closed for a fortnight

Mr Manzoor said there was also a problem with rubbish piling up. He had arranged for waste from his restaurant to be collected from another street, but rubbish from other traders was not being collected because refuse lorries cannot get access.

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Over at Sophia's restaurant, owner Jule Karvelyte, said bookings had been down over the past fortnight.

"Our customer base is elderly people and many of them have restricted mobility," she said.

"We have had a number of cancellations because people can't park in front of the restaurant.

"If it carries on a bit longer, we might find ourselves struggling with the bills."

An aerial picture showed the extent of the damage to the four-storey building

In a statement, West Northamptonshire Council said the road remained closed because of safety concerns linked with the condition of the former Balloon Bar following the fire.

"At this stage, we still do not have a date and time for when Bridge Street will reopen, but we will do our best to keep the closure to a minimum," it said.

"We have been, and remain, in dialogue with the building's owner about the actions which will be needed to address safety concerns."