Published: Thursday, 12th March, 2009 5:30am

Trader's yellow peril

HARDGATE traders have warned that a street parking ban could mean the end of the line for their businesses.

They claim last week"s suspension of parking outside their premises as part of East Lothian Council"s temporary traffic management plan for the town centre has already begun to bite in to their takings.

Previously, about 10 cars had been able to park free outside the affected shops for a maximum of 90 minutes. That arrangement, which effectively reduced the road to a single lane, frequently created problems for passing heavy goods and public service vehicles.

But a major programme of works to the former Jackson"s the Jewellers building in nearby High Street has seen the authority temporarily suspend parking in Hardgate, between Victoria Terrace and Church Street, till November.

On Monday, as the parking bays were replaced by double yellow lines, irate traders vented their frustration.

Jan King, a director of Claymore Locks and Alarm Company, said: 'We have suffered an approximate 50 per cent drop in walk-in trade over the last week. Our key-cutting service is practically redundant.

'We had a very good January and quite a good February, but March has so far been a disaster. It is hard to see us being able to sustain this till November.'

The parking restrictions have given Wool Shop owner Irena Scott an added problem - she lives above the premises and can no longer park outside her door.

'The council is not helping small shops in the town at all,' she claimed.

'I have run my business here for 17 years and it is definitely having an impact on my trade. There are a lot of elderly people who are not coming in any more because they can"t park nearby.'

Shamsher Bakshi, owner of The Health Food Shop and Indian Home Cooking, said: 'We have been quiet since parking was suspended.'

And John Main, spokesman for Haddington Business Association, said: 'I don"t think the council realised the extent of the problem. We have known that the work on the Jackson"s building was coming for some time, but we didn"t expect this much disruption.'

A spokesman for the council, which warned of the changes in statutory notices published in the press, said: 'The double yellow lines have been put in place as part of the new traffic management system in the east end of the town centre, to allow the work on the Jackson"s building to go ahead.

'Delivery vehicles for the businesses in Hardgate will still be allowed to park and unload. We have briefed the police warden in Haddington about this.'