Norwich's Barcadia furious over Prince of Wales Rd roadworks

Pete Leigh, who owns Barcadia in the Upper King Street side of Prince of Wales Road, has hit out at Norfolk County Council and UK Power Networks for allowing the entrance of his venue to be blocked off throughout the month-long roadworks.

The roadworks outside Barcadia in Prince of Wales Road (Image: William Warnes)

Mr Leigh claims neither party told him about the works - though this is disputed by UK Power Networks - and criticised them for failing to put signposts up informing customers he was still open.

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He said: "The signs just tell pedestrians the footpath is closed, and there is nothing to say we are still open. 

"Bollards have also been put up in front of our entrance and we've had to move them.

Peter Leigh, owner of Barcadia (Image: Peter Leigh)

"A lot of our business comes from people passing by, but of course no one is doing that. 

"We've lost half our trade - if not more - because of this disruption."

The works - which are being carried out by UK Power Networks - began on February 5 and are scheduled to finish on March 1.

But despite their imminent completion, Mr Leigh said the works have already battered his business and it couldn't withstand much more. 

"We wouldn't have been able to do another weekend like this," he added.

"We even tried to improve the situation by putting some light hearted notices up. 

No signs were put up informing locals the businesses were still open (Image: William Warnes)

"But they were ripped down the following morning. 

"It seems insane the council could allow this to happen - particularly given the precarious nature of businesses at the moment."

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A spokesman for the county council said utility companies - in this case UK Power Networks - should "notify residents and businesses if normal access is prohibited".

The King Street side of the footpath has been completely blocked off (Image: Peter Leigh)

A UK Power Networks spokeswoman apologised "for any inconvenience caused", but said the company wrote to businesses about the disruption on January 25.

They added: "We are currently carrying out work in Upper King Street, Norwich, to provide a new connection to the electricity network.

"Access to businesses is being maintained throughout the work, which we will complete as quickly as possible this week."

Mr Leigh said he had tried to put up some light-hearted signs for customers (Image: Peter Leigh)