Pub landlords in the Market Drayton area have described the “devastating” impact canal repair work has had on trade.
A number of landlords in Market Drayton and Audlem claim to have lost thousands of pounds after a hole was discovered in the Shropshire Union Canal two months ago.
British Waterways are continuing with work to repair the breach at Shebden Embankment, near Newport, and hope to reopen the canal in full by the end of October.
But landlords say canal traffic is still well below normal and are they having to make staff cutbacks because of the drop in customers.
David Swanston-Richards from the Talbot pub, in Market Drayton, said: “Normally at the end of the school holidays, we get a great deal of canal traffic and the place ought to be quite busy.
“But instead, it’s like a ghost town and we’ve known nothing like this before.
“It’s been devastating and we’ve probably lost 50 per cent of our trade during the period.
“We’re making use of fewer staff to do more work and we’re having to be as inventive as possible.”
Andy and Kate Griffiths, who run the Shroppie Fly in Audlem, said they were “clinging on by our fingertips” after losing tens of thousands of pounds since the canal breach.
Andy said: “This is the period of time where we’d make our money because it’s the height of the holiday season and it’s crucial to our survival.
“We’ve cut our staff down by two thirds and we’re struggling to make ends meet, but we appreciate that we’re not the only pub on the canal.
“We want to see it up and running but we’d also like to be fairly compensated for the dramatic loss we’ve had in business which has basically taken us down to our knees.”
Market Drayton Chamber of Trade and Audlem Parish Council have written to British Waterways and hope to hold talks with them at a meeting in Whitchurch next Thursday.
British Waterways spokesman John Clayton said: “The Shropshire Union Canal is due to be re-opened by the end of the month, with engineers working seven days a week to repair Shebdon Embankment. British Waterways has also rescheduled its repair programme to assist businesses during this difficult period and we are committed to reopening the canal as quickly as possible.”
By Winston Brown