A retailer from Surrey has missed out on vital summer and World Cup sales after roadworks restricted access to his store for more than three months.

Dean Holborn, who owns Holborn's in Redhill, believes he was down at least 25-30% a week since the roadworks began in April.

Dean, who says he was told the work would take between six and eight weeks to complete, explained to Convenience Store: "I've easily lost 25-30% turnover a week and that's not taking the World Cup and the heatwave into account. 

"We were stuck in no man's land for weeks and might as well have had a wall built at each end of the street."
Dean is pushing for compensation, but fears he may miss out. He added: "Businesses can qualify for compensation but you have to have a turnover of less than £1.2m a year. 

"My store in Redhill just fits into this but I also have to include my store and post office in South Nutfield as part of the same turnover, which I think just isn't fair."

Southern Gas Network, which is carrying out the work to replace old pipes in the area, said the work affecting Dean's store was completed on time, although work on other roads in the area had continued. 

Communications manager Geoff Aspel said: "We personally wrote to and visited Mr Holborn from day one. We would advise him to contact us to discuss the situation."