Pub owner angry at double whammy of road closures

Claire Atkinson claims the Waggon and Horses, between Oxenhope and Hebden Bridge, lost customers due to closures of the A6033 Hebden Bridge Road – the only vehicle access to her pub – on either side.

She has complained to Bradford and Calderdale councils after they closed the road at separate times for highways maintenance or road safety improvements.

She claims that during work in recent years by contractors or utility companies has been damage to her car park, loss of power supplies, and verbal abuse of her staff.

Both councils insist the closures were essential, and businesses along the route were given notice.

Mrs Atkinson said: “Back in June Bradford Council closed Hebden Bridge Road. No notice was given although this directly closed our business. We lost considerable money and not had an apology.

“In September Calderdale Council decided with three weeks’ formal notice via email that they were closing the road for three weeks on-and-off, killing trade.

“We understand the need to keep roads in good order - we disagree that businesses like ours are being killed in the process.

“We are at the end of our tether with paying business rate, licensing fee and bin fees, but in return the council are unable to let me know when they are going to stop me trading.”

A Bradford Council spokesman said maintaining the district’s highway was an important priority, adding: “We do everything we can to minimise the disruption improvements can sometimes cause.

“We gave appropriate notice of the Oxenhope road closures and we are working with Mrs Atkinson to resolve concerns she has raised with us directly.

Cllr Jane Scullion, Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Resources, said the first stage of essential road safety improvements had been made on the A6033 from Hebden Bridge to Oxenhope.

She said: “The Road Safety Foundation rated this stretch of road as one of the top 50 ‘A’ roads in England with the highest risk of road traffic incidents resulting in death or serious injury.

“As the road is so narrow, a road closure was necessary to ensure safety during the works. We tailored the working hours to minimise disruption as much as possible and did everything we could to let people know about the road closure in advance, including the Waggon and Horses pub.

“In response to concerns raised by the Waggon and Horses, we visited the business and instructed our contractor to install ‘business open as usual’ signs on the roads approaching the pub.

“Some further work is scheduled on the road over the next few weeks, but this will not affect vehicle access and will be managed with temporary traffic lights.”