Newcastle council road closures in Jesmond divide residents and shop owners

Some residents said there had been "no meaningful consultation" about the closures

Residents and shop owners are divided over "discriminatory" road closures.

Some streets in Jesmond have been blocked as part of Newcastle City Council's Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) restrictions.

The authority said it wanted to make roads safer and less polluted and could make changes "if needed".

But Moz Murphy, who owns a shop at the end of one of the closed roads, accused the local authority of being "totally hellbent on hamstringing us".

She said: "If the council is just appealing to those people who want their kids to ride their bikes on certain streets then they are missing a lot of the population."

Restrictions on streets between Osborne Avenue and Cavendish Road were imposed on 6 March to prevent drivers cutting through between Osborne Road and the Coast Road.

Some residents have welcomed the plans but critics say they have caused chaos on surrounding roads and risk businesses in Cradlewell, which lies at the end of Osborne Road.

People living on Grosvenor Road, which is not blocked off, said it was now "mayhem" as motorists diverted there instead, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

'Gridlocked and polluted'

Gill Reeve, who owns Dene's Deli, said the scheme was "discriminatory" because it "benefits residents in a few streets, but at the expense of the Cradlewell shops and the residents of Jesmond Vale".

But Osborne Avenue resident Ian Nelson said the closures had been "transformational" on a street that had been "gridlocked and polluted" for years.

"It is now peaceful, calm and safe," he said.

Campaign group SPACE for Jesmond welcomed the "benefits of safer and more pleasant streets" but said further restrictions were needed to stop drivers simply diverting to other streets.

The LTN has been imposed on an 18-month trial basis with public consultation in the first six months.

The council said it was aware of "some displacement of traffic" but said new measures often took "a little while to embed".

It was talking to businesses and "can make further changes if needed", a spokesperson said.