Pub in Westbourne 'in danger of closing' after 'traffic chaos' reigns over village

The Stags Heads owners Stuart and Anita Webb said ‘chaos has reigned over’ the village after Heather Cottage was given permission to erect scaffolding and traffic lights on the main road.

Stuart said: “The building work that had permission to take place in our small village has turned lots of businesses upside down.

“West Sussex County Council has granted the permission without any consideration to local businesses around the area. They have coned off most car parking spaces outside local businesses causing loss of trade and staff layoffs.”

Stuart said builders first erected scaffolding on Friday, June 7 and made ‘brief appearances’ during the following week.

He added: “This work is meant to continue until June 30. We are also struggling so much so we are considering closing our restaurant during the week and attempting to reopen on Sundays but now we have traffic enforcement officers putting tickets on cars.

“We have just won Gastro Pub of the year for West Sussex 2019 [but] we are now struggling along with other local businesses and in danger of closing.”

Stuart also claimed that traffic, including large lorries, is trying to avoid the lights by travelling both ways down a one-way side street outside the pub.

He said: “Parked cards have been hit and damaged in the process, including a brand new Mercedes down the road.

“The plant holders which sit outside my house have also been smashed to bits three times.

"We also have double decker buses stopping inches away from our bedroom window with passengers peering in. This must be an invasion of privacy."

West Sussex County Council said the scaffolding licence application was carefully considered.

A spokesman said: “We carefully consider all scaffolding licence applications and traffic management measures before they are agreed because we appreciate they can cause disruption.

“This scaffolding is needed so a property owner can have works carried out safely under listed building consent. Two-way traffic lights are essential to protect the scaffolding and a total of five parking bays have had to be suspended so traffic flow can be maintained.

"The lights are manually controlled at peak times to try to minimise inconvenience for road users as much as possible.

“We sympathise works such as these cause disruption for road users, residents and businesses, but the scaffolding in question is correctly licensed and the traffic management properly authorised.

"It has been set up by a qualified traffic management company and inspected by a highways officer, who has confirmed it to be safe.”