A BUSINESSMAN claims he has struggled to make ends meet since a congestion-busting £6.3 million road improvement scheme got under way in Pensnett.

Temporary traffic lights popped up along the busy High Street earlier this month, marking the start of year-long works, which will see the road widened and pedestrian crossings installed.

But despite Dudley Council bosses' efforts to keep disruption to a minimum, Teg Singh said the tailbacks have already had a devastating effect on his business.

The 33-year-old, who runs Loaf sandwich bar on High Street, said: "When we were first told about the roadworks, I was concerned but the council assured me that everything would be put in place to minimise the traffic.

"But it has been a nightmare. It's really affecting my business and other traders are saying the same.

"I've lost about 85 per cent of my customers as people are struggling to get to me because the traffic is so bad and I can't offer my usual delivery service as it takes about 40 minutes to get back.

"I've also had regular customers call to place orders, only to ring back and cancel once they'd set out and saw how bad the traffic was.

"People don't have time to sit in the traffic during their break or at lunchtime, they are going elsewhere.

"If it stays this way for much longer, there will be a lot of empty shops along here and a lot of people without jobs.

“After seven years of hard work, the last thing I want to do is close up."

Mr Singh said he has already had to reduce one of his two part-time staff members' hours, adding: "Before the roadworks, I was looking at taking on another part-time member of staff, things were really picking up.

"But at the moment, I'm barely breaking even. I need to take around £800 per week to pay all of my bills."

Mr Singh believes altering the timings of the temporary traffic lights would help alleviate the traffic and said more signs - alerting people to the roadworks and stating which individual shops were open, would help.

"There's a car wash, post office, hardware store, cafe, Costcutter - we're all open for business," he added.

Alan Lunt, director place directorate, said: “The Pensnett road improvement scheme is a major programme of work which will bring long term benefits to the area. Inevitably there will be some disruption and we are working hard to minimise this.

"Our contractor has employed a professional traffic management company to manually control temporary signals and the pedestrian crossing to maximise the traffic flow during the normal working day."

He continued: "Temporary signals are in place as and when they are needed and reviewed on a daily basis and removed when no longer required. All regulatory signage is in place and there is additional signage in place stating that businesses are open as usual.

"We are very aware of the impact the work will have on local residents and businesses and we are continuing to work with them to do what we can to mitigate any problems while supporting trade during these essential highway improvements.”