THE big dig on Winwick Road is reaching its completion.

Although the cones will soon be gone some businesses believe they will still be feeling the impact of the junction works on the bustling road well into the new year.

Kadir Keler has seen his business – The Chip Inn – struggle since the introduction of lane closures when the work started back in May.

The 43-year-old said: “It’s not going to pick up straight away, it’s going to take until the end of January or maybe even February to be like it was before the works started.

“The whole year has gone down the drain.

“We are running at a loss compared to last year.”

The roadworks, which have seen the roundabout removed from the Long Lane junction of the road have also seen a negative effect on Outdoor World.

Assistant manager Ken Ward said: “It was very noticeable because there have been fewer customers in the store. The public were saying they were staying away from the roadworks.

“It is still going to take a week or so for word to get round and we think just after Christmas we will start to see the numbers rise.”

The work was due to finish in October but has overrun by more than a month having a further economic impact on business owners.

Mr Keler added: “People have started going somewhere else for the last six months, hopefully our customers are going to return.

“I work with my wife. We work 120 hours between us but when you get home you cannot pay any wages. The council has said it is not going to compensate people.”

But the future looks hopeful for Outdoor World, which has been helped by its website sales while experiencing a drop in footfall during its busiest time of the year.

Mr Ward said the number of customers had started to rise in the past few weeks as the roadworks came to an end.

Sharon Walls, in charge of highways maintenance at the council, said: “Unfortunately these works were delayed because of problems with some of the utilities such as water and gas that had to be diverted. This meant that the new junction could not be finished until these essential diversions were completed by the utility providers.

“We apologise for any inconvenience and the delay. We have done our best to reduce the impact on local businesses by only restricting the road between 9:30am and 15:30pm Monday to Friday, avoiding weekend closures and undertaking road surfacing work through the night.’